Seplat Energy says gas is Nigeria’s logical transition fuel
Lagos -- Seplat Energy Plc has said gas development is a clear solution to Nigeria’s immediate problems and remains a longer-term transition fuel.
The Director of New Energy at Seplat Energy, Mr. Effiong Okon, stated this in an address during the gas stakeholders Cconversation panel session at the 2024 Nigeria International Energy Summit, NIES, in Abuja.
“Increasing the supply of reliable, affordable, and sustainable energy is
Nigeria’s greatest challenge; but gas is the logical transition fuel we need to realise this,” Okon said.
He linked gas development to power, Liquefied Natural Gas, LNG. export, Compressed Natural Gas, CNG, production, fertiliser production, Liquefied Petroleum Gas, LPG, production, and building materials production, among others.
He added: “Today, we have acute housing and infrastructure shortage, but no commercially viable substitute for the production of building materials e.g. cement, glass, steel; about 90,000 deaths per year due to biomass cooking; and rising population presents an urgent need to improve agricultural production. We can fund all of the above with gas.
“We can also reduce reliance on petrol, increase and decarbonise domestic transport fuel if we leverage on gas. Of course, these would in turn strengthen our focus on sustainability.”
According to the IEA Global Energy Outlook 2022, natural gas production in Africa is expected to grow by 15 percent between 2020 and 2030, driven mainly by new projects in Egypt, Nigeria, and Mozambique.
Okon stressed that the Nigerian energy industry must focus on end-toend solutions to unlock the full value of Nigeria’s gas, noting that exploration, production, gas processing, and delivery of gas to the last mile remain germane to maximising the dividends of the resource.