Nigeria and its African neighbours have been identified as the primary victims of the industrialized world’s rapid energy transformation.
The Punch reported that the Secretary-General of the African Petroleum Producers’ Organisation, Omar Farouk, stated that the countries of Africa were being pressured to stop the exploration of fossils on Monday at the 3rd Biennial International Conference on Hydrocarbon Science and Technology, which was organized by the Petroleum Training Institute in Abuja.
However, he emphasized that Nigeria and other countries on the continent had a responsibility to their citizens to use the plentiful oil and gas resources in their diverse areas for the growth of their economies.
The African Petroleum Partnership Organisation has 18 member countries.
Commenting on the conference’s theme, “The Future of the Oil and Gas Industry: Opportunities, Challenges, and Development,” We “very frequently receive inquiries about the future of oil and gas,” according to Farouq.
He declared, “It is apparent that developing countries, particularly those in Africa, will suffer the most from a quick energy shift.
“This is due to the fact that wealthy countries would corner the small amount of energy that was left over if the anticipated technological advances in renewable energy research and development did not materialize by the time they were expected to be fully deployed and at the same time the oil and gas industry had been abandoned.
“Even if Africa is able to produce oil and gas, it will ultimately end up where the purchasing power is highest, as it has since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war.”
The APPO official claimed that three impending problems the energy transition posed to the African oil and gas industry were recognized in significant research the organization performed a few years ago on the Future of the Oil and Gas Industry in the Light of the Energy Transition.
He claimed that today’s industrialized countries do not feel that oil and gas have a future in the modern world.
“As a result of this belief, students at this school work to discourage research and investment in the oil and gas industry through a variety of policies and actions. They also make significant investments in R&D to support the expansion of renewable energy sources.
“The majority of this group’s members are economically and technologically advanced nations, nations that have contributed the vast majority of the emissions that, according to current scientific consensus, pose a serious threat to both current and future generations’ well-being.”
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Heineken Lokpobiri, urged conference attendees to find solutions to the issue in Nigeria’s oil sector despite the worldwide movement against fossil fuels in his keynote presentation.
“You must be able to develop technologies that we require to address our industry’s unique and local problems. In order to guarantee that we find solutions for this industry, I will be the document’s assessor when this conference is over.”