SPE Africa Groans Over Natural Gas Waste In Nigeria

The Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) has expressed deep worries over gas waste in Nigeria, saying it is preparing its members for decarbonisation of the African petroleum industry in the face of threats posed by the prevailing global campaign for energy transition.

The group declared that decarbonisation of fossil fuels has become important in order to spur development of the continent with available and affordable energy.

The professional group also bewailed the massive resource waste in the Nigerian petroleum industry where it noted that poor infrastructure and low industrial capacity enabled utilisation of very small fraction of produced gas.

The petroleum engineers also lamented the massive drift of Africa’s skilled labour from the continent, warning that mass emigration of youths is creating deep skills shortfalls in building local capacity for domestic industrial development.

Africa regional director of SPE, Riverson Oppong, who was in Nigeria, stated that, resilient demand for oil and gas across the globe has made it crucial that technology be deployed in addressing carbon footprints of the industry, adding that, the net-zero mantra in the global climate campaign currently indicate a shift of focus from energy transition to energy transformation.

Riverson who featured at the debut edition of Oilda Fireside Chat platform hosted in Lagos, explained that the campaign for energy transition is shifting focus from demand migration from fossil fuels to decarbonization of the industry.

The Oilda Fireside Chat is an executive media platform that provides opportunities for industry leaders to share experiences and perspectives on crucial issues in the emerging energy landscape.

Oppong added that the campaign for energy transition is pushing production pressure in the continent as African governments hasten derivation of full economic benefits from their petroleum resources.

The situation, according to him, challenges professionals in the industry to evolve technologies and practices that align with the demands for decarbonisation.

Oppong who hails from Ghana said that his country is currently pursuing its clean energy programmes as a matter of cost efficiency, stressing that the petroleum industry in Ghana is conceived not to waste even a molecule of gas.

In regretting the massive waste of gas resources in Nigeria and other places in the continent, Oppong called on African governments to accelerate industrialisation of their economies in order to create useful utilisation for the continent’s vast natural gas resources.

He noted that petroleum remains the most available energy to drive the industrial development of the continent. He made it clear that green energy technology has not attained the capacity and efficiency levels required to accelerate Africa’s industrial and economic development. He added that petroleum remains the best option to achieve Africa’s energy security.

According to him, green energy sources like solar and wind are still very vulnerable to weather conditions and thus would not adequately power homes, businesses and industries.

Engr Oppong pointed out that some of the challenges to resource valorization in the continent are related to policy and commercial issues, adding that, the global quest for energy transition has made it urgent for African producers to deemphasise exports and use petroleum energy to accelerate industrial development.