OPEC faults calls against funding of fossil fuels in Africa

The Secretary General of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Haitham Ghais, Tuesday decried the calls to stop funding fossil fuels in Africa. 

He said financial institutions are limiting, tightening, and controlling how money is invested into fossil fuels under the guise of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) impacts. 

Ghais said this on Tuesday at the 22nd edition of the NOG Energy conference with the theme, ‘Powering Nigeria’s Sustainable Energy Future’. 

He noted that the situation was hindering Africa’s progress despite the fact that the continent accounts for only 3 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions. 

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On investments inflow into the oil and gas sector, he said the global oil sector alone would need a massive cumulative investment of $12.1trn between now and 2045. 

“We are currently not on track to reaching that level. To make things worse, we have in recent years been getting calls to limit or stop funding new oil and gas projects altogether. 

“This is of course, unwise and is a very realistic scenario that will be particularly devastating to developing countries that rely on revenue and their precious oil and gas resources to develop their economies. 

“Africa for example, is blessed with an estimated 120 million barrels of crude oil reserves and 18 trillion meters of natural gas.

“However, a significant investment will be required to fully realize the potential of these resources to benefit African citizens, while also enabling necessary mitigation actions needed to reduce the carbon footprint of the oil industry,” he said.

NNPCL denies blocking oil & gas sector deals 

The Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Mele Kyari, has said that the company was not blocking oil and sector deals.

He also said the company will issue its initial public offer to investors very soon.

Kyari said this on Tuesday at the 22nd edition of the NOG Energy conference with the theme, ‘Powering Nigeria’s Sustainable Energy Future’.

Delivering his keynote address on ‘Redefining Nigeria’s Energy Landscape for a Sustainable Energy Future’, the NNPC boss said: “We are going to offer Initial Public Offer (IPO) very soon. We’ll sell a part of our equity. It’s in the law, and once that happens, we will not be any different for any of you and it will be a very different business environment.”

Kyari noted that key initiatives on the horizon for NNPCL will include expanding gas infrastructure to deliver gas across West Africa and potentially, Europe; expansion of liquefaction capacity of NLNG and enabling availability of LPG as a cooking fuel and CNG as alternative fuel for automobiles. He also added that strategic decisions like subsidy removal have already paved the way for positive change in the sector, while freeing up capital for powering the sustainable supply of energy. 

Allays IOCs’ divestment fears 

The GCEO also said contrary to speculations in the oil and gas sector that the national oil company was blocking divestment deals, there are no plans to stop any of such transactions.

Kyari said NNPC is not blocking any deal even with competitors, as he challenged operators on how much of the aspirations of the 2012 divestment have been met.

Rather than blocking deals, he said NNPC was now the competition and the Petroleum Industry Act has better placed the national oil company on solid ground to even divest some of its holdings.

He urged players in the oil and gas industry to be on the lookout because the NNPC will be putting some of its assets for sale

“On the Shell divestment, we are supporting them to resolve it. We want to see more private-sector companies walk in. There are assets we will not come in. We will not walk in; we will not participate as a matter of very functional, considered, business decision.

“So just get ready, you will see assets. We are not going to stop you from getting from anyone else, you will get from us and be ready for it,” he said.

Africa needs fossil fuels to drive industrialisation – APPO 

Meanwhile, the Secretary-General, African Petroleum Producers Organization (APPO) and Vice Chair, Africa World Energy Council, Dr Omar Farouk Ibrahim, has said that Africa needs to use and invest in fossil fuel to accelerate industrialisation and develop its economy.

Speaking during the 16th Nigerian Association for Energy Economics/International Association for Energy Economics with the theme, ‘Energy Evolution, Transition and Reform’ in Abuja, Ibrahim said despite concerns about the effect of fossil fuel to climate, the continent should be allowed to develop its economy as the current measures and policies introduced to check climate change are inimical to developing countries.

He said policies should not be uniformly imposed on all societies without regard to their special circumstances, such as their levels of socio-economic development and energy poverty.

He said: “Lest we are misunderstood. APPO does not contest the science of climate change, nor are we against energy transition. However, we want the champions of climate change to admit the fact that fossil fuel-induced climate change did not start in the last 50 years, nor did the knowledge of the dangers that fossil fuel use poses to the atmosphere only came to light during this period.”

He stated that the notion that the global climate challenge is a universal challenge requiring the full commitment and sacrifice of every country means “they are all equally responsible for the mess that has been created by the few. But that is not true.

“Those responsible for creating the mess should take full responsibility for cleaning up the mess.”

Ibrahim said oil and gas are harmful today because they are foreign-controlled and if the West was the place endowed with so much fossil fuel, the emphasis would have been on developing and perfecting the technology to make fossil fuels environmentally friendly, not on rushing to end fossil fuel use.

The CEO of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Engr. Farouk Ahmed, said the discussion around a just and equitable energy transition was very much relatable to the African continent, as it makes a negligible contribution to global emissions.

He said the African continent must ensure that it pursues only energy evolution and transition and reform strategies that would not sacrifice its economic growth.

On his part, the Executive Secretary of PTDF, Dr Bello Aliyu Gusau, said it has been preparing Nigeria’s workforce for the energy transition.

He said there can’t be an energy transition without human capital transition, the reason it is training professionals in the energy sector and intervening in tertiary institutions to equip students with the necessary knowledge of the sector.

Consider NLNG model before going public, expert tells NNPCL

Reacting to the plans by the NNPCL to go public, the Managing Director and Chief Economist of Analysts’ Data Services and Resources (ADSR), Dr Afolabi  Olowookere, said the move will make our capital market bigger.

He, however, said there are a number of questions on the lips of investors that need clarity.

“What is the need for capital that what they have does not already give them? So are they looking at private-private capital or public-private capital? Because if they have a need for say $5bn, some of these IOCs can raise these funds in exchange for some holding as we have with the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas company.

“There is also the question of the group structure of NNPCL. Are they going to unbundle it because they are carrying a lot of subsidiaries that are not profitable and investors will be interested in the profit-making assets?”