By Adaobi Rhema Oguejiofor
The Secretary-General of the African Petroleum Producers’ Organisation (APPO), Omar Farouk, has described Nigeria and its African neighbours as the biggest victims of the speedy energy transition being championed by the developed world.
Farouk said this while speaking at the 3rd Biennial International Conference on Hydrocarbon Science and Technology, which was organized by the Petroleum Training Institute (PTI) in Abuja on Monday, noting that the nations of Africa were being forced to stop the exploration of fossils.
He, however, pointed out that Nigeria and other nations on the African continent, owe their people a duty to utilize the abundant oil and gas resources in their various domains for the development of their economies.
Commenting on the theme of the conference, which was, ‘The Future of the Oil and Gas Industry: Opportunities, Challenges and Development,’ Farouq stated that APPO very often receives enquiries about the future of oil and gas.
In his own words, “it is obvious that the biggest victims of a speedy energy transition shall be the developing countries, especially those from Africa.
“This is because, should the anticipated technological breakthroughs in renewable energy research and development fail to materialize by the time they are expected to be fully deployed, and at the same time the oil and gas industry has been abandoned, leading to a shortage in global energy supplies, the little energy that is available shall be cornered by the rich countries.”
The APPO Boss also expressed that a major study conducted by the organisation a couple of years ago on the Future of the Oil and Gas Industry in the Light of the Energy Transition, identified three imminent challenges that the energy transition posed to the African oil and gas industry.
“These are funding, technology or expertise and markets. The study noted that in the nearly 100 years that Africa has been producing oil and gas, our countries have been heavily dependent on foreign funding, foreign technology and to some extent expertise and foreign markets.
“The study further noted that while the world is committed to a speedy energy transition, Africa owes its people a duty to utilize its abundant oil and gas resources to provide them energy, which is the most potent catalyst for socio-economic development. In other words, Africa must create a future for the oil and gas industry,” he stated.
According to him, the developed world now believes that oil and gas have no future in the contemporary world and because of that belief, members of the school of thought strive, through various policies and actions, to discourage investments and research in oil and gas, while working to promote the growth of renewables through huge investments in research and development.
APPO is the African inter-governmental oil and gas organisation with 18 member countries.