Mele Kyari, the group chief executive officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) has announced that the Final Investment Decision (FID) on the Nigeria Morocco Gas Pipeline (NMGP) Project will be taken in December 2024.
Kyari disclosed this during a Leadership Dialogue Session at the ongoing CERAWeek Conference in Houston, United States, on Tuesday.
According to the GCEO, there is an ongoing engagement on the $25bn NMGP, which is at an advanced stage, to create a pipeline that will pass through thirteen African countries and all the way to Europe.
He stated that “as the largest oil and gas company and corporate entity in Africa, the NNPC Ltd is critical to Nigeria’s resource management and economic development.
“That the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021 has reformed Nigeria’s oil and gas industry, by ensuring that the NNPC Ltd emerged as a fully commercial entity that is not only accountable and responsible to its shareholders, but also one that is on the pathway of getting quoted on the stock exchange.”
Kyari in a statement issued to BusinessDay said that Nigeria is currently fighting the menace of crude oil theft frontally adding that through the joint efforts of government and private security agencies, there has been some reasonable improvements in the restoration of the nation’s crude oil production.
“Ït is an abnormal situation, but it is well within control. We were able to recover some of our production and build back confidence so that investors can bring in their money. We are also doing global advocacy to governments and institutions, because stolen oil has to be taken to the market.
“An example of the improved security situation was when in 2022, Nigeria’s production fell below 1 million barrels per day, which was restored to 1.7 million barrels per day,” he said.
Kyari also noted that energy transition was a difficult subject for countries especially in sub-saharan Africa because geographically, the situations are different as a number of the countries are dealing with energy availability, not transition, and energy availability is closely linked to energy security.
Speaking on energy transition, Kyari noted that the world has been challenged by geopolitical events. “It is clear that before energy transition, countries must first attain security of energy supply in their countries. You cannot talk about energy security when it is not even available. In most sub-Saharan Africa, 70% of the population don’t have access to clean cooking fuels. Therefore, you must fill the supply gap first.
“Although people talk about using the renewables to close the energy transition gap, the money for the renewables too must be found.
“If you insist on completing substitution today, then you have to deal with the problem of supply. For us today, the transition must be differentiated. Even if Africa decides to switch off its fossil fuels, it only accounts for just about 3% of the entire global emissions,” the GCEO added.
“NNPC Ltd’s focus is to build its capacity to deliver gas to the domestic market and beyond. Aa gas-endowed country, Nigeria must utilize its abundant gas resources to provide the alternative fuel that it needs.
“We understand the arguments towards attaining energy transition, but the cheapest way to achieve that is through gas. We see clear opportunities that gas creates. Today we are building a number of trunklines and other gas infrastructure that will supply gas to a number of gas networks,” Kyari noted.
