By Audrey Lotechukwu
MON 07 JUNE, 2021-theGBJournal- President Muhammadu Buhari gave his perspective on the theme of this year’s summit, ‘’From Crisis to Opportunities: New Approaches to the Future of Hydrocarbons’’ as opened the Nigeria International Petroleum Summit today at the International Conference Centre, Abuja Nigeria.
He went on to outline his views about the potentials of Nigeria’s hydrocarbon industry while challenging the oil and gas industry stakeholders on the need to drive down the cost per barrel of oil ‘’before it is exterminated by prices falling below production cost.’’
The President’s Speech:
About three months ago we came together for the ‘Decade of Gas’ conference which served as a prelude to the present event. The highly successful pre-summit event created the momentum for what we are going to witness over the next four days. It is therefore with great pleasure and honour that I welcome you all to the main summit-the fourth edition of the ‘’Nigeria International Petroleum Summit.’’
Over the past three editions, the summit has grown both in stature and relevance that it has become a veritable platform for Nigeria and Africa to engage the local investment communities as well as directly marketing our oil and gas sector as credible business investment destination to a global audience.
This administration has demonstrated an unparalleled commitment to overhauling of the oil and gas industry in Nigeria. The ambitious goal of ramping up crude oil production to at least 4 million barrels per day and building the reserve of 40 billion barrels remains sacrosanct and guiding principle to our overall outlook for the industry.
Creating a conducive business environment for our hydrocarbon industry to thrive is no longer a choice, it is a necessity.
The Senate and the Rt Hon. Speaker of the House of Representatives has given us updates as to when the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) and when the National Assembly will pass this all important oil industry bill.
I want to briefly give my own perspective on the theme of this year’s summit, ‘’From Crisis to Opportunities: New Approaches to the Future of Hydrocarbons’’
Crisis is often an opportunity to redefine objectives and provide the pathway for rediscovery. The crisis the oil and gas industry is facing today was necessitated by COVID-19. It accelerated an unprecedented demand for disruption and a supply glut that generated the crisis for the global economy in general and the oil industry in particular.
Addressing this crisis has presented both the challenges and opportunities. The immediate challenge is that the global agenda for energy transition has slightly taken the back seat. Government across the world are now more focused on managing COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on economies that requests for energy transition. However, energy is real, renewable technologies are getting cheaper and investors are increasingly conscious of environmental issues and are beginning to turn their back on hydrocarbon investments.
But history has shown that human beings have insatiable appetite for energy which renewable does not have the capacity to cope with in the foreseeable future.
Experts project that about 80% of the world’s energy mix in 2040 will still come from hydrocarbon. Fossil fuel will continue to be the source of dozens of petrochemicals feedstock that companies that companies transform into versatile and valued materials for modern life. Thus, the hydrocarbon industry will still remain a multi-trillion industry in the coming decades
For us as a country with a vast hydrocarbon potential that is an opportunity. How we exploit that opportunity is a matter of strategy, developing that strategy is at the heart and the core objective of why in 2016 the Federal Executive Council of this administration approved the establishment of the Nigerian International Petroleum Summit.
The fundamental outcome expected from this summit should therefore be the strategies and new approaches to the future of our hydrocarbon industries and how to return the attractive industry performance of the pre-pandemic era.
In this regard, lower cost is critical. Cost is the energy of the future. The industry needs to drive down the cost per barrel before it is exterminated by prices falling below production cost. The phenomenon experienced at the outset of the pandemic and given that about 80% of global energy mix by 2040 will still be hydrocarbon, we cannot turn our back yet on more exploration. Discovery of new fields is crucial and we also need to address short-term opportunities using the existing technology that can extend the life of mature fields.
Nobody is in doubt about our commitment in this regard given our bold move to issue new marginal field licences recently.
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