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By Bimbola Oyesola
Against the backdrop that Nigeria’s crude oil may no longer be acceptable in some years from now, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has tasked the Federal Government to come up with an energy transition policy that will still make Nigeria’s oil production relevant in the globe.
President of PENGASSAN, Festus Osifo, at a media parley in Lagos, noted that energy transition refers to the global energy sector’s shift from fossil-based systems of energy production and consumption, including crude oil, natural gas and coal, to renewable energy sources like wind and solar, as well as lithium-ion batteries.
Osifo said, “If Nigeria’s government is serious, they should come up with an energy transition policy in such a way that everybody will know his or her direction before 2050 proposed by the Minister of State for Environment, Sharon Ikeazor, as energy transition.”
He said PENGASSAN would educate its members on energy transition to make them relevant in the oil and gas industry.
“While we engage the government to come up with a policy direction, we will also see to its workability. The policy should be what is implementable and pragmatic,” he said.
The PENGASSAN boss explained that the challenges Nigeria is likely to face as a result of the energy transition include; who will buy the crude oil and issue of finance, saying that if supply is more than demand, the price of crude oil will fall.
“We need to embark on massive industrialization, where most of this fossil fuel will be used locally without exportation,” he said.
Osifo said Nigeria should be looking at expanding its gas production as gas would still be relevant, noting that even with the sanction on Russia due to the war going on Ukraine, the United Kingdom still buy gas from Russia as that is the country major source.
He stated,”What we should be looking at as a nation is to channel our energy to gas production.
“Today in Nigeria we ought to be producing two million barrels of crude oil per day, but if you look at Dangote Refinery, for example, it is going to be refining 650 thousand barrels of crude oil per day. If our four refineries are functioning, we will be refining four hundred and fifty thousand barrels of crude oil per day. When you have both of them, they will amount to 1.1million crude oil per day. It means that almost 60 percent of our production would be refined locally.
“If we refine these 50 percent locally, as a country, we will consume a good amount of the product and if you look at the entire African suburb, we could export this product to them. Beyond this, what we should be thinking is industrialization.”
