Africa’s largest oil producer, Nigeria, is implementing efforts to prepare its economy for a post-oil era, Ogbonnaya Onu, the Minister of Science and Technology, said at a forum this week.
OPEC member Nigeria, which also has huge gas reserves but also a huge problem with gas flaring, looks to introduce methanol into the economy and reduce gas flaring by using the natural gas as a feedstock for methanol production, the minister said, as carried by Daily Trust.
In Nigeria, the oil and gas sector accounts for about 10 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), according to OPEC estimates. Nigeria’s revenue from petroleum exports represents around 86 percent of the country’s total exports revenue.
Nigeria has no plans to drop oil and gas exploration or to stop trying to attract investments in its most important revenue stream, despite the shocking report from the International Energy Agency (IEA), which suggested last week that no new investments in oil and gas are necessary if the world wants to get on a track to net-zero emissions by 2050.
Just this week, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) signed a deal with international oil majors Shell, Exxon, Total, and Eni to develop an offshore oil block that includes the deepwater Bonga field. The deal marks a historic moment as it settles long-running disputes between the Nigerian government and international oil companies, the NNPC noted.
Despite bearish oil demand forecasts over the long term, Nigeria has serious ambitions in expanding its oil industry. More than 100 oil and gas projects are set to launch over the next five years in Africa’s biggest oil producer, including 25 upstream oil and gas projects, 28 petrochemical projects, and 24 refinery projects. The Bonga field is among the 25 upstream projects, and is expected to start commercial production in 2025.
