The Executive Director, Rainoil Limited, Mr Emmanuel Omuojine has said the optimal utilisation of gas is the guarantee to acvhieving energy security and equity in Africa.
Speaking at the recently concluded Africa Refiners and Distributors Association Conference, ARDA Week 2023, held in Cape Town, South Africa, Omuojine, in his presentation titled “The Critical Role of Liquefied Petroleum Gas in Africa Energy Transition”, stated that despite the growth in renewable energy projects, oil and gas will remain a significant part of Africa’s energy mix, with gas accounting for at least 25% of this by 2050.
He said Africa has over 620 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves which will be critical to its energy security. Referencing the impact of Russia – Ukraine war on the global energy sector, Omuojine said International Oil Companies such as BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell and TotalEnergies raked in a combined record profits of over $199.3 billion in 2022. Unsurprisingly that have soft-pedalled on their aggressive plans to slash oil and gas production by 2030.
He stated that for Nigeria to harness the benefits of its energy transition is to fully implement the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) especially as it relates to the optimal utlisation of the country’s vast gas reserves.
Focusing on the LPG sector, Omuojine stated that while Nigeria had significantly improved its annual per capita consumption of LPG from 1.8 kg in 2015 to at least 5 kg currently, it still imports well over 60% of its LPG demand. He added that this was an anomaly since Nigeria has the most proven gas reserves in Africa, at over 209 trillion cubic feet. Nigeria’s domestic demand for LPG increased from just over 400,000 MT in 2016 to over 1.3 million MT in 2022.
