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By Adewale Sanyaolu
TotalEnergies has called on Government to work with other nations in West Africa to develop a regional synergy for combating the threats to maritime assets.
Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of TotalEnergies E&P Nigeria Limited, Mr. Matthieu Bouyer, disclosed this at the management session of the ongoing 42nd NAPE Annual International Conference and Exhibition in Lagos, yesterday with the theme: “The Evolving Landscape of Nigerian Energy Sector-Challenges and Opportunities”.
To further safeguard oil and gas assets which have been under constant attacks, the company also proposed the development of a robust strategy for host communities “part ownership” of energy infrastructure.
This, the company, said will serve as motivation to cooperate more with government and other stake holders on asset security.
Bouyer, who was represented by the Executive Director, Corporate Services, Mr. Olatunji Akinwunmi, said TotalEnergies is proud to have been a trusted partner in Nigerian Energy development space for over six decades with investments running into several billions of dollars in the last few years alone, contributing the economic development of Nigeria.
“In addition to our continuous investments in infrastructure, capital and human development, we are also proud that since we commenced operations in Nigeria in the early sixties, we have been able to make useful inputs into several policies and initiatives aimed at developing Nigerian energy sector whenever we have the opportunity. We thank NAPE for continuously providing the platform for stakeholders in the energy sector for useful contributions to critical issues affecting this industry.
According to the EIA in its 2024 World Energy Outlook, recent increases in clean energy investment come mostly from advanced economies and China, making up 85 per cent of the total, while other emerging market and developing economies, home to two-thirds of the global population, account for just 15 per cent”.
This misalignment is a major concern, given that demand for energy services in developing economies will inevitably increase in the coming years to support rising standards of living, universal access to energy and construction of modern infrastructure.
The high cost of capital and lack of affordable long-term financing are a key contributor to these regional imbalances and an impediment to increasing capital flows to emerging market and developing economies in the future.”
As expected, he maintained that, investors allocate more resources to countries with the highest return on investment; stable economies.
However, he said, Nigeria is responding to the need for competitiveness with progressive changes in the Nigerian energy landscape in recent years such as; enactment of Petroleum Industry Act in 2021 which provides better clarity on fiscal terms and stabilization, grants operational and financial autonomy to the NNPCL (upstream and downstream), encourage faster development of discoveries.
Others are; provision for the deregulation of the downstream sector for enhanced value and competition, recent presidential initiatives which provides additional fiscal incentives for gas development, shorten and streamline contractual process and confronting oil thefts and other forms of sabotage.
According to Bouyer, other areas requiring additional efforts are; more attractive entry cost and conditions for exploration in new blocks, provision of market reflective signature bonus, consideration for the introduction of “drill or drop” window in exploration phase, access to expired Deepwater Blocks, facilitate entry into unexplored and expired deepwater blocks through strategic partnership with the industry.
