The Managing Director of Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG) Tony Attah has said Nigeria must unleash its gas potential and support the company’s expansion programme, Train 7 project, in preparation for a world that is fast making efforts to reduce its fossil fuel consumption and minimise carbon footprint.
Attah spoke at the second West Africa International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (WAIPEC) in Lagos.
In a paper titled: “Global energy transition: Which way forward Nigeria?”, Attah told oil and gas chief executives and experts that the global energy landscape is changing with major concerns for the environment, such as global warming, and increasing demand for cleaner energy.
He said with reduced appetite for crude oil as a dependable source of energy, gas is the best option for Nigeria in the future.
He said: “The best bet for Nigeria is gas. It is available in abundance and three times cleaner than oil in terms of carbon content. Nigeria has to begin to think about the relevance of oil in the future. Nigeria has to start to develop its gas resources in readiness for this future. Some critics say gas is not profitable but let me draw your attention to Qatar, a small fishing economy which was transformed from a GDP per capita of $2,000 in 1970 to a GDP per capita of $124, 000 in 2017 using gas. ‘’
He continued: “Gas can lift Nigeria, which is where NLNG comes in. NLNG is producing 22 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA), but we are not resting on our oars. We want to construct a Train 7 that will increase our capacity to 30 MTPA. It is time for gas. It is time to unleash Nigeria’s potentials. That is how we can survive the future with increasing appetite for renewable energy.
“The thirst for cleaner energy is increasing and a lot of that has to do with increasing environment friendly policies. Countries like the United Kingdom, Sweden, Norway and many other countries are making moves to significantly reduce their carbon footprint. Take for example India, which aims for 40 per cent renewable energy by 2030. UK joins France to ban fossil-fuel cars by 2040. Norway aims for all new passenger cars and vans sold in 2025 to be zero-emission vehicles while Sweden has committed to 100 per cent renewable energy by 2040.”
The NLNG chief noted that the world’s population will grow by an additional two billion people by 2050. They will need energy.
‘’Where will it come from? Most stakeholders in the future will not accept the carbon emission levels that are prevalent. Renewables play a significant role in the growth of electricity, contributing almost 40 per cent of the growth in global power generation in 2016. By 2040, EIA estimates that 31 per cent of world electricity consumption would come from renewables, roughly half of which will be from hydropower, as wind and solar power will grow rapidly in the coming decades,” he added.
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