The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries on Thursday said the push against new investments in the oil and gas sector was currently affecting economic recovery negatively both in Nigeria and other parts of the world.
Some international oil companies such as Shell and ExxonMobil recently exited Nigeria’s onshore fields, as analysts said this was due to the global push for energy transition and net carbon zero target.n his keynote address during the Nigeria Energy Forum at the CERA Week 2022 in Houston, Texas, OPEC Secretary-General, Sanusi Barkindo, decried the seeming halt in new investments in the oil sector.
He said, “The push against new investments in oil and gas has a narrow and very short-term view. Indeed, its negative effects on the global economic recovery, the energy security of both consumers and producers, and the welfare of families across the world have begun to appear.”
He noted that the uncertainty and at times contradictory signals in policy-making in some parts of the world could have harmful knock-on impacts, particularly if it hindered necessary investments and demand starts to outstrip supply.
“What is clear is that oil and gas have an important role to play in the energy transition,” Barkindo said.
At the just concluded energy summit in Abuja, the Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Mele Kyari, had insisted that NNPC would continue to develop Nigeria’s gas resources despite the exit of IOCs from the country due to the net carbon zero drive.
Barkindo explained on Thursday that OPEC was in support of the need to reduce emissions, bolster efficiency and embrace innovation, “but we must also be aware of the risk we run of not investing adequately in the future of this industry.”
He added, “We are already dealing with the harsh impacts the COVID-19 pandemic has had on investment, which declined by 30 per cent in 2020, investments recovered somewhat last year but not to sustainable levels.
“Allow me here to add a few numbers for context. In OPEC’s most recent World Oil Outlook, we see energy demand expanding by 28 per cent in the period to 2045.
“Global oil demand reaching 108.2 million barrels per day by 2045, and cumulative oil-related investment requirements alone amounting to $11.8trillion in the 2021-2045 period.”
The OPEC scribe explained that when considering the scale of the energy transition, operators in the sector globally must harness all available energies.
He stated that in terms of providing reliable and secure supplies, and from the perspective of reducing emissions, the oil and gas industries had much to offer.
