Africa Energy’s future is bright despite energy transition – Sylva

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva has said that the future of Africa’s oil and gas industry remains bright despite the challenge posed by the gospel of energy transition.

He said this at the 45th Nigeria Annual International Conference and Exhibition (NAICE) organised by the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Nigeria Council, with the theme: “Global Transition to Renewable and Sustainable Energy and the Future of Oil and Gas in Africa held in Lagos.”

Sylva said Africa has a key role to play in securing a greener world where clean natural gas is used to power the continent’s economies sustainably, charging petroleum engineers and other industry stakeholders present at the event not to let the continent down.

“I have no doubt that the future of Africa’s oil and gas industry is still bright, despite the global energy transition uptake. You are central to making this a reality. Don’t fail us,” Sylva said.

While observing that it was generally acknowledged that transition to low carbon energy sources would make the world a better living place with a cleaner climate, Sylva noted that energy transition was better viewed as providing clean energy, and not as abandoning some energy sources.

He maintained that while the current forecast indicated that the global cost of renewable energy was declining steadily, the reliability and sustainability of renewable energy supplies had been challenged by the recent energy crisis in Europe and the Americas, which has re-awakened new interest in fossil fuel supplies.

“We have seen coal plants being fired up in several European Countries recently, and a renewed interest in natural gas supply from Africa. There are also reports of increased oil and gas drilling operations in the USA with spontaneous permits being granted recently.

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“Anticipated economic growth and rising global population, especially in Asia and Africa, will significantly push energy demand upward to a level that renewable energy sources cannot meet by 2050.

“All these imply that the global energy mix will remain with us, amidst greater dominance by hydrocarbon energy sources, at least in the foreseeable future. It also indicates that energy transition will remain a gradual process, as against a rapid and radical shift as some have presented it,” the minister said.

For Africa, he noted that adaptive strategies for the energy transition should be adopted across the continent, adding that it meant that the different socio-economic, political and developmental peculiarities of individual nations should be taken into account in their transition plans.