‘How Nigeria Can Meet 40 Billion Barrels Of Oil Reserves’

Nigeria should create a stable operating environment and establish robust regulatory and fiscal framework in the country to meet the 40 billion barrels oil reserves by 2025, Victor Okonkwo, Managing Director of Aiteo Exploration and Production Company Limited, has said

Okonkwo, who spoke in Abuja last week, also said key energy industry reforms will be critical in boosting investor confidence and attracting otherwise elusive investments into Nigeria.

‘’To put our current reality into perspective, in 2018 while the Foreign Direct Investment to Africa rose 11% to $46 billion, the FDI to Nigeria shrunk 43% to $2 billion whilst Ghana received $3 billion (ref. world investment report 2019). This is in contrast to the vast hydrocarbon resource base Nigeria is blessed with (largest oil and gas reserves in Africa),’’he said.

He promised that his company is working assiduously towards significant contribution to enable Nigeria meets with oil reserves.

He added: ’’We cannot overemphasize the pivotal role oil and gas play in the Nigerian economy contributing an estimated 56.8% of National revenue (ref. CBN Quarterly Economic Report Average: Q4 2017- Q3 2019) and about 88% of foreign exchange earnings (ref. KPMG Industry Insight report April, 2019).

“Nigeria is therefore, not isolated from the current wave of global energy transition. The energy transition has largely been driven by three key factors namely environmental, technological advancements and national policy realignments.

‘’Climate change is a serious issue that has gained ascendance in shaping global policy discussions with respect to actualising less carbon intensive scenarios. However, given the diverse applications of hydrocarbon and hydrocarbon derivatives in support of human civilization and industrialization, fossils will continue to play a dominant role in the global energy mix in the foreseeable future’’.

SOURCE: oglinks.news