By Teddy Nwanunobi
With over 200 trillion cubic feet (TCF) proven gas reserves, Nigeria has a great opportunity to take advantage of gas in transiting to cleaner sources of energy, the Chairman of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Nigeria Council, Engr. Olatunji Akinwunmi, has said.
Akinwunmi, who maintained that Nigeria’s gas reserves are a veritable vehicle for energy transition, added that it was in the best interest of Nigeria’s oil and gas industry to be in the race with the rest of the world, regarding energy transition.
Reduction of carbon emissions, he said, could be achieved by more efficient operations, focusing on transition to gas exploration and development to replace coal in electricity generation.
He said the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) by the National Assembly would assist Nigeria’s energy transition, through the utilisation of its abundant gas resources.
“We made our submissions during the public presentations. We have seen the final draft and we are satisfied. We believe that it will serve as a good tool for the development of our oil and gas resources. The bottom line is that the PIB as it is today, is a most useful document. Like the Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mallam Mele Kyari, said, the PIB is a gas development bill.
“So, it means that it is something that will really help us to move in the direction of energy transition through exploration and development of our immense gas resources.
“We know there are some issues surrounding some details. Hopefully they will be finalised and we will have the president signing this bill into law. We sincerely believe that in its form, talking about proposal of governance structure and fiscal regulations, it is a useful tool that the industry can leverage upon to really bring some impetus into the oil and gas sector,” he said on the sidelines of the recent 2021 SPE Nigeria Annual International Conference and Exhibition (NAICE) in Lagos State.