Nigeria has earned about €1 million from cutting carbon emission in its oil and gas production in joint projects between TotalEnergies and the NNPC subsidiary, the National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS).
Bala Wunti, managing director of NAPIMS, stated this in a presentation on the fourth day of the Nigerian International Petroleum Summit in Abuja on Wednesday.
“This is the first time Nigeria is earning carbon credits for its work to reduce carbon emissions in its oil production,” said Wunti.
The significance of the news is not so much how much was saved but that the country’s oil producers are keying into the global movement to cut carbon emissions and avoiding penalties, a development that can help the sector remain competitive as the world marches towards energy transition.
Carbon credits are earned when a project is registered as a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), earning the nation carbon credits that can be cashed with the World Bank or through the European Union Emissions Trading Systems (EU ETS).
Set up in 2005, the EU ETS is the world’s first international emissions trading system. It has since continued to inspire the development of emissions trading in other countries and regions.
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The EU supports these efforts through knowledge exchange and capacity-building activities. The EU also considers opportunities to link the EU ETS with other compatible systems.
This follows the agreement many countries reached at the Paris Agreement in 2015 where they committed to cut back on carbon emissions.
The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change. It was adopted by 196 Parties at COP 21 in Paris, on 12 December 2015 and entered into force on 4 November 2016.
Its goal is to limit global warming to well below 2, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels.
To achieve this long-term temperature goal, countries aim to reach global peaking of greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible to achieve a climate-neutral world by mid-century.
From interactions with the operators, BusinessDay gathered that the credit was earned from several TotalEnergies’ joint projects with NAPIMS including the Ikike, OMLs 130, OML 58 upgrade, and OML 102, among others as the company had begun cutting back on emissions in its operations since the 2000s.
On its website, TotalEnergies says its ambition is to become the responsible energy major, providing energy that is more affordable, more reliable, cleaner, and accessible to as many people as possible.
“TotalEnergies’ focus on climate concerns is integral to our four areas of strategic focus: natural gas, electricity generated from renewables and gas, oil products, and carbon neutrality,” the company said.
Due to this commitment, the company has made investments to end gas flares in virtually all of its oil-producing installations in Nigeria.
In May, Total announced an ambition to get to net-zero emissions by 2050 together with society for its global business across its production and energy products used by its customers.
Through a joint statement developed between Total S.A. and institutional investors – as participants in the global investor initiative Climate 100+1 – Total said it would take 3 major steps towards achieving this ambition.
These include Zero across Total’s worldwide operations by 2050 or sooner, Net Zero across all its production and energy products used by its customers in Europe by 2050 or sooner, 60 percent or more reduction in the average carbon intensity of energy products used worldwide by Total customers by 2050 with intermediate steps of 15 percent by 2030 and 35 percent by 2040.
