With $64bn Total Assets, NNPC Targets 2026 to Achieve Nigeria’s Energy Sufficiency

•Country’s energy resources can power New York for 120 years, says Kyari

Emmanuel Addeh

With assets in excess of $64 billion, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited said yesterday that it’s focusing on 2026 to achieve energy sufficiency for the country.

Group Managing Director, NNPC, Mallam Mele Kyari, made the disclosure when he delivered a keynote address at the Global Energy Summit themed: “Setting the global transition agenda,” organised by Reuters in New York, United States.

Represented at the event by the Group General Manager, National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), Mr Bala Wunti, Kyari stated that Nigeria was ready to rally investors for the development of the nation’s gas sector.

Stressing that with 230QBTU of 2P gas resources, the country would deploy gas as energy transition bridge, the NNPC GMD noted that Nigeria has never been more ready to attract investment in the sector, especially in a bid to help achieve its net-zero objectives.

Although the country currently imports almost 100 per cent of its fuels, the NNPC stated that its priority is to be zero-dependent on imported energy , both primary and secondary and come out as a net exporter of the products in the next four years.

On energy poverty in Nigeria, Kyari noted that with the current 8.4mmbtu per capita energy consumption, almost 100 million Nigerians or 45 per cent of the entire population is currently without access to electricity, making Nigeria 164th in the world.

In addition, while the country emits 123mton of annual CO2, Kyari reiterated  that the country has already set and is working towards 2060 to achieve net-zero emissions target.

The NNPC boss pointed out that the company also has the ambition to see 100 per cent of the population with access to electricity as well as a target of over 70mmbtu per capita consumption by 2035.

He listed the building blocks for NAPIMS as reduction of emissions, leveraging on innovation and technology, replacing high carbon fuel systems with low carbon alternatives as well as renewal of the atmosphere by removal of carbon emission using carbon capture technologies.

Furthermore, he explained that the company intends to invest in restoring and replanting its tropical forests to offset atmospheric carbons as well as rebranding the organisation to emphasise focus on environmental sustainability.

He stressed that natural gas will be the backbone of the NNPC’s play in the hydrogen economy, noting that on the supply side, it will be involved in supplying clean hydrogen as a major alternative energy resource to hydrocarbons.

However, on the demand side, Kyari declared that the NNPC will be investing in the transportation sector by facilitating the fuel cell vehicle demand and supply chain as an alternative to conventional electric vehicles.

According to Kyari, there remains a strong correlation between the market and investment climate in the upstream oil and gas sector whereby the former drives the latter and in turn is driven by finance.

As the global energy mix shifts to lower carbon fuels, Kyari stated that growth driven by less carbon intensive energy sources is expected to grow at the average of about 0.8 per cent, faster than oil which will grow at 0.5 per cent.

Added to that, he posited that coal will lose market share from 26 per cent in 2020 to 16 per cent by 2050 to renewables.

But oil and natural gas, he said, will continue to hold over 50 per cent of market share of total energy supply.

Drawing a nexus between markets, investment and finance, he noted that economic development will require massive energy supply while markets provide commercial platforms for energy to be traded, insisting that energy sources need to be unlocked and delivered efficiently.

“Unlocking energy requires development and delivery infrastructure. These require investment. Investments need financing and supporting rules and regulations.

“Without finance, investment plans will remain as aspirations. The finance of today has a preference for investment that will unlock cleaner and more sustainable energy resources such as natural gas and hydrogen which Nigeria has adopted , not just as a transition fuel but also a destination energy resource,” he stated.

He explained that the NNPC has the special geographic advantage of operating from a position of easy access to the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans, giving it unhindered access to the most critical trade routes and markets.

“With 6 QBTU of energy production, annually, we rank 18th in the world and 2nd in Africa. Our energy resources can power the city of New York for the next 120 years,” he told investors.