Due to the recent worldwide drive for energy transition away from hydrocarbons, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) has said that it will exploit the massive gas resources across the country as a transition fuel.
Mele Kyari, Chief Executive Officer of NNPC, revealed in his statement at the 1st National Extractives Dialogue organized by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative in Abuja on Tuesday that the national oil giant was presently reviewing its energy transition strategy.
He said, “The aftermath of COP26 in Glasgow has shown that the world is committed to energy transition which the EITl and other stakeholders have also recognised.
“I would like to assure you that as NNPC transitions to a CAMA (Companies and Allied Matters Act) company, we are restructuring our businesses to take advantage of the opportunities that energy transition will bring forth.
“As we commence implementation of our revised strategy, we will use our large gas resource as transition fuel to aid this process.”
Kyari added, “We are committing our resources for the next decade, which is tagged the decade of gas, to explore and produce more gas relative to oil, to power Nigeria and the international community as we transit away from hydrocarbons.
“The next decade ahead will be an interesting one, therefore I call on stakeholders to support the industry and NNPC Limited so that our resources can work for all Nigerians and, by extension, the world.”
Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, Executive Secretary of NIETI, stated at the conversation that the event was aimed to create a venue for enterprises, governments, civil society, and development partners in the extractive sector to debate three topical concerns.
He stated that the challenges include contract transparency, benefit-sharing from extractive resources, and energy transformation in West Africa, with an emphasis on Nigeria, Ghana, and Senegal.
“The overall goal is to enable governments, companies, civil society and communities to evaluate the energy industry and proffer evidence-based policy recommendations for the efficient and effective management of natural resource benefits and the transition from fossil fuel to a renewable energy regime with these countries as case studies,” Orji stated.
