NIMASA says it's preparing for post crude oil era

Houston, Texas -- The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, has emphasised its readiness to develop policies that will see to a smooth transition of the country from the regime of intense wet cargo operations, which is the major source of income for the maritime sector in Nigeria, to the inevitable era of renewable energy which may see less activities in crude oil exploration and exploitation in the country.

The Director General of NIMASA, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, stated this in a paper delivered during the Africa Regional Workshop with the theme, "The effect of Global Energy Transformation" one of the side workshops during the just-concluded Offshore Technology Conference, OTC, in Houston, Texas.

The NIMASA boss noted that though the maritime sector in Nigeria benefitted extensively from oil exploration and exploitation, including technological and skill transfer, the time to see both opportunities and associated risks of the gradual shift towards renewable energy from fossil fuel for the maritime sector has come.

He stated that there might be no need for huge vessels for intercontinental shipment of both crude and refined products in years to come, thus the need for a new dynamics to bring about logistics diversification.

“We at NIMASA are working to create a new framework to maximise opportunities provided by renewable energy, so the world does not leave us behind. As a maritime administration, we are taking conscious steps to put in place the necessary building blocks for an era of renewable energy when exploration and exploitation of oil and gas and all associated logistics will no longer play a major role. We propose policies to promote transition to clean and renewable energy. We have accepted the inevitability of renewable energy in years to come," he said.