Energy sufficiency is fast becoming a higher concern for the federal government. Nigeria and four other countries are to produce 50 per cent of the world’s population increase between 2017 and 2050.
The Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva, noted this concern at the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Lagos Annual Technical Symposium and Exhibition.
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According to his remarks at the event citing the United Nations estimates, Sylva said the current world population of 7.6 billion is expected to reach 8.6bn in 2030, 9.7bn in 2050 and 11.2bn in 2100.
“Half of the world’s population increase is anticipated to occur in just five nations in Africa between 2017 and 2050. They are Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Uganda,” said the minister who was represented by his Technical Assistant (TA) Gas and Business, Justice Derefaka.
He said Nigeria’s population, which is currently the world’s seventh largest, is expected to overtake that of the United States and become the world’s third largest country by 2050, “Which means we will need more energy.”
The minister said in the face of this, “gas is what Africa and the world needs as we face up to a period of profound change,” noting that this puts Nigeria with 208.62 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of proven gas worth over $803.9 trillion, the most extensive in Africa, and in the top 10 globally.
Sylva said with the federal government declaration of years 2021 – 2030 as the ‘Decade of Gas’, there are steps to expand and develop the nation’s huge gas resources through enhanced gas exploration, development and utilisation schemes among others.
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