The Minister of States for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, has advocated for sustainable energy for the future.
He made this known at the NAICE 2021 Conference. “It is true that the industry was beset in 2020 by unprecedented crisis as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is also true that the crisis heralded unpredictable challenges, uncertainties and low crude oil price that led to global economic shutdown; thanks to the timely development of vaccines, we are now on the pathway to recovery”.
“The questions facing us then become: Should we wait for another unwanted crisis before we act on securing sustainable energy for the future? Can we deliberately influence public health, climate change and ultimately global oil markets? That is why the trilogy of determinants which form the crux of this year’s theme is key for me.
“ I feel honoured to address this Annual International Conference & Exhibition of the Society of Petroleum Engineers being the 44th with the theme: “the Future of Energy – A Trilogy of Determinants: Climate Change, Public Health and the Global Oil Market”.
“As I have mentioned at several fora, I will also reiterate here, the scenario being projected by some energy experts is that energy transition to low carbon energy sources would make the world a better living place with a cleaner climate. I believe so too, likewise the Government of Nigeria”.
“However, that this process of change has to happen by way of a simultaneous global effort of transitioning national economies to the use of low carbon energy solutions, is an assumption that all national economies are driven by the same parameters and does not take into account the different socio-economic, political and developmental peculiarities of individual nations”.
“Let me state categorically that our approach towards the climate-change-net-zero-emission debate is to optimize the use of our abundant gas resource domestically as a transition fuel option towards meeting our Nationally Determined Contributions on climate change. As a Government, we are determined to encourage more penetration of natural gas and its derivatives for domestic utilization, power generation, gas-based industries and propulsion in all aspects of the national economy. This would in a fundamental manner address the great challenge posed by volatile oil market, the environmental issues and public health concerns”.
“Ladies and gentlemen, regarding the global oil market in the foreseeable years, it is becoming obvious that a global migration from a fossil fuel-based economy to renewable would engender a corresponding decline in hydrocarbon including possible divestiture in the sector as deliberate frameworks are being championed to discourage extraction of carbon-laden resources. The COVID-19 Pandemic has further exacerbated the investment decline”.
The Government of Nigeria according to him is in collaboration with global partners is exploring policies, technologies and investments to address the current global challenge that will support migration from our reliance on carbon dependent fuels to meeting our commitment to the Paris Agreement.
