AEC sees benefits for African gas suppliers in Europe’s energy crisis
LARGESCALE military invasion of Ukraine, its southern neighbour, has resulted in geopolitical tensions as western nations further tighten economic sanctions against the world’s largest country.
With western nations threatening the critical supply of Russian gas to European markets, African Energy Chamber (AEC) analysts see an opportunity for African gas producers to accelerate hydrocarbon production and exports to meet international supply gaps and position the continent as a viable and preferred gas supplier to international markets.
The AEC stressed that the withdrawal and disruption of supply channels from Russia, the second largest gas producer globally and the biggest supplier of natural gas to Europe, will not only send Europe into a deeper energy crisis, but will cause price hikes globally, presenting a golden opportunity worth exploring for African marketers/suppliers.
Citing discussions from a recent meeting of member states of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) held in Doha, Qatar, the chamber noted that African producers can take advantage of Europe’s current energy crisis to attract investments required to build infrastructure that would enable them to expand exploration, production and exportation to meet the anticipated demand surge from European countries.
Commenting on this, AbdurRasheed Tunde Omidiya, president of the African Energy ChamNIGERIA’S ber, Nigeria and West Africa, said the ongoing European energy trilemma and challenges provides a golden opportunity for African gas producers to develop a robust, bankable gas strategy to cater for Africa and the European energy demand.
He asserted that Africa can leverage current trends to attract much needed investment to develop the infrastructure needed to accelerate production for regional consumption and exportation.
“The time to act on the trans Africa gas plan is now,” he added.
The African Energy Chamber, in its Q1 2022 Outlook predicts Nigeria to ramp up its gas production estimated at 1,550 billion cubic feet in 2016 to about 1,780 billion cubic feet in 2022.
The production increase, it stated, will enable Nigeria to increase domestic capacity, ensuring energy security both domestically and continentally, while creating the opportunity to scale-up exports to European markets.
Underlining Algeria’s proximity to the European market, the AEC projected that the North African country, currently the world’s sixth largest gas exporter and the largest gas producer, stands at a geographically-advantaged position to become a leading gas supplier for Europe as demand is expected to continue rising.