The Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), Nigeria Council, says in view of energy transition, Nigeria needs to effectively harness the potential of its gas resources to ensure energy security.
The Chairman, SPE, Nigeria Council, Felix Obike, said this on Sunday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.
Obike underscored the need to deepen programmes and projects on gas utilisation and policy implementation in realisation of the net zero carbon emissions.
The SPE chairman said the just concluded 2023 Oloibiri Lecture Series and Energy Forum (OLEF) was geared toward policy formulations and implementation to ensure delivering effective and sustainable energy in the country.
OLEF is an annual event of SPE to commemorate first discovery of oil by Shell in commercial quantities in Oloibiri, Bayelsa in 1956.
The 2023 edition of OLEF was themed: “Effective Gas Resources Utilisation: A Lever for Enhancing Energy Security and Achieving Net-Zero Emission Goals in Nigeria.”
Gas, which Nigeria has reserves of more than 200 trillion cubic feet, is a cleaner-burning fossil fuel than oil or coal, and can play a significant role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
In as much as we are trying to decarbonise, we still need to develop our reserves to harness opportunities in the oil and gas industry which is the mainstay of the Nigerian economy.
Speaking on the acceptance of gas as a transition fuel and the move to achieve net zero emissions, Obike said Nigeria, as a gas country, has readily available gas resources to exploit and guarantee energy security.
He said apart from investments, funding, infrastructure and technologies coming to play in energy transitions, capacity building is also paramount to harness gas potential.
He said capacity building is also being spearheaded by the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) in the tertiary institutions by ensuring development of professionals.
This, he said, is being done through encouragement and inclusion of gas generation and technology courses among others in tertiary institutions’ curriculum and sponsoring them.
He said: “In as much as we are trying to decarbonise, we still need to develop our reserves to harness opportunities in the oil and gas industry which is the mainstay of the Nigerian economy.
“Gas as a cleaner fuel for energy transition will be effective for Nigeria looking at its affordability, sustainability and energy security.
“We are now trying to harness these resources, having modular approaches by different companies of developing gas reserves, producing them in a safe manner to reduce emission through technological applications,” he said. (NAN)
