NNPC Weekly: Kyari Shops For More FDI In Nigeria’s Energy Sector

Afonne Emmanuel
Sep, Thu, 2022

Oil & Gas

NNPC Weekly: Kyari shops for more FDI in Nigeria’s Energy Sector

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NNPC Weekly: Kyari shops for more FDI in Nigeria’s Energy Sector

NNPC

By Edith Ike-Eboh and Emmanuel Afonne

Abuja, Sept. 1, 2022 (NAN) Malam Mele Kyari, the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) has urged investors to take advantage of the enormous business potentials in the Nigerian energy sector to invest in the country.

Kyari, at the Nigerian – Indian Business Forum in Abuja, said the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) had created an enabling environment for investors in the oil and gas sector of the economy.

Kyari represented by the company’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Umar Ajiya, noted that Nigeria’s natural gas reserves represented tremendous opportunity to achieve energy sufficiency.

He added that the company’s focus was on gas development, with the objective to energise Africa, including India.

Speaking earlier, the Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria H.E. Shri Balasubramanian, said that Nigeria was poised to play critical role in global affairs due to the current unfolding global realities, its immense natural resources as well as its policies.

He said that Nigeria has become India’s largest trading partner in Africa, adding that this was made possible by the goodwill of the people.

According to him, be it in trading or manufacturing, Indian companies have always found Nigeria a land of immense opportunities and that is the reason a sizeable number of Indians have made the country their second home.

The High Commissioner added that it was time to identify new areas of cooperation between the two countries.

In the meantime, NAPET Telecommunications Services, an ICT subsidiary company of NNPC Limited, was granted a telecommunication licence by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

By this feat, the company can now operate as fully registered telecommunications company in the country.

The certificate was presented to the Chairman of the company and NNPC Limited’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Mr Umar Ajiya in Abuja recently by the Company’s Managing Director, Sanusi Yerima.

Speaking at the event, the CFO said the company had all it takes to compete with other IT companies in the country now that it had become a legal entity, stressing that it had limitless potentials for growth.

On his part, NAPET Managing Director, Sanusi Yerima, said that the company was now in a position to deploy its super digital highway across the country and would provide quality services at competitive prices to individuals and corporate bodies.

Meanwhile, the NNPC Ltd. said it would pursue new and profitable energy ventures to deliver the country’s net zero transition by 2060.

The Group Chief Executive Officer of the company, Malam Mele Kyari, said this at the public launch of the Nigeria Energy Transition Plan by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

He said that the country had a growing population of young people who needed a stronger economy that was powered by reliable energy options.

He said: “This event is coming after the historic presidential unveiling of the NNPC Ltd. with a clear vision and a renewed commitment to upscaling NNPC’s relevance in the global energy market while ensuring energy security for our country.

“With NNPC Ltd. as a fully commercialised enterprise, Nigeria is well positioned to lead the African continent in a just and gradual energy transition”.

He said Nigeria and other African countries adopted 2060 as a suitable date for its net zero transition hinged on energy justice, adding that Nigeria had adopted gas as its transition fuel which would help to fund other renewable infrastructure.

He stated that: “NNPC recognises the activities of the oil and gas sector as a significant contributor to carbon emission and the consequent adverse impact on the climate.

“We have taken steps to decarbonise our operations by primarily extinguishing gas flares from our operations, pursuing carbon capture initiative and technology that support low carbon operations while focusing on gas as a transition fuel”.

He added: “NNPC is taking advantage of Nigeria’s huge natural gas reserves of over 200 trillion cubic feet of gas with the potential to grow to 600Tcf as more investment is expected due to the recent resolution of the production sharing contracts.

“The company is also taking advantage of the empowerment of the NNPC by the Petroleum Industry Act to take full responsibility for commercial operation of the Joint Venture assets”.

Kyari said that the company supports the government’s National Gas Expansion Programme which would deepen natural gas utilisation as an alternative transportation fuel.

He revealed that progress was being made in the construction of the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano, the Nigeria-Morocco and the Trans-Saharan gas pipelines.

The Nigeria Energy Transition Plan showcased the country’s pathway to achieving net-zero emissions by 2060 and its leadership role in enabling a just and equitable climate future for Africa, with the ultimate objective of mobilising the finance required to jumpstart implementation of the Plan.

Specifically, the global launch highlighted Nigeria’s commitment and ambition to achieve carbon neutrality while also ending energy poverty, which would lift 100 million people out of poverty, drive economic growth, and bring modern energy services to the entire population.

The drive for Nigeria’s energy transition is in line with Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7) which advocates for “affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all” by 2030.

The SDG 7 targets three areas namely: access to energy (SDG 7.1), renewable energy (SDG7.2) and energy sufficiency (SDG7.3).

Nigeria is a signatory to both the COP26 agreement and the Paris Climate Accord which advocate for net zero emissions, but Africa’s biggest economy seeks a more equitable way to achieve it.