-By Victoria Opeyemi
The Centre for Petroleum Information (CPI) has grown to become one of the busiest oil and gas association in Nigeria creating value through knowledge, it holds six events every year. CPI programme is designed to build decision making policy formulators for matters of common interest with regards to the energy sector.
Recently, it had its Petroleum Policy Round table (PPR XXI) via webinar to discuss energy transition and how prepared is Nigeria towards future transformation.
Giving his insight on the theme, a member of CPI and former Deputy Managing Director of Shell, Mr. Egbert Imomoh, said with regards to energy transition, climate change is one of the biggest challenge confronting the world. It is affecting countries and communities across the globe.
Imomoh noted that climate change is a situation where human activities change into the atmosphere hitting up the continents with negative impacts. For instance, some countries across Europe are flooded and the East and West Coasts of the United States are ravaged by wild fire.
He made it known that in 2015, Paris Agreement already anticipated and took a position to reduce world average increasing temperature by limiting it to 1.5 to reduce risk and impact.
Part of the challenge with the Paris Agreement is that most of the countries that signed the treaty might not implement it.
Imomoh spoke on zero emission adding that there is a planned conference to emphasise on it in the United Kingdom. Since there is a focus on zero emission, investment on fossil fuel becomes unnecessary.
The former Shell Deputy Managing Director, posited that Covid-19 has affected investment and production has been curtailed. Thus, “we are going to be facing uphill task both from internal and external institutions where they want to place money for development because some of them are still licking their wounds after investments during Covid-19. They spent a lot of money and are still struggling to recover. External financial institutions will be guided by dictates of their shareholders.”
Oil production in the past in Nigeria was 2.5 million barrels, but presently, it is 1.7 to 1.8 million barrels. Production is utmost priority since it gives virile investment. Although declining rate is 5% to 7% per anum, the trend will persits unless there is investment with increase of capacity.
Imomoh observed that Nigeria has not diversified from oil, the country will continue to experience reduction in volume and price with issues to access international fund.
The country needs a foreign policy with a position that will affect it positively especially on the aspect of gas since it has significant reserve. Focus on gas will be a game changer for Nigeria in its diversification efforts.
Ultimately, Imomoh advised that Nigeria needs a workable plan unlike previous ones the country had in the past that did not work. For instance, “vision 2020 says Nigeria should have a capacity of 4 million barrels per day and reserves of 40 billion, are we there? We must have a way of having a workable plan and follow the policy.”
The solution remains having a workable policy. If the policy is not enhanced, the country may end up with failed visions like 2010 and visions planned for other sectors that have not seen the light of the day. There has to be a virile successful plan and policy with commitment and implementation.
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