Nigerian gas minister digs his heels in at ADIPEC
At the global energy conference ADIPEC, Nigeria’s petroleum minister Ekperikpe Ekpo controversially pushed back against a phase-out of fossil fuels, saying the country is committed to an “energy mix.”
(Abu Dhabi) — Nigeria is advancing its renewables industry but is also fully committed to continuing to exploit its gas resources, Ekperikpe Ekpo, Nigeria’s Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), said at ADIPEC on Wednesday.
“In our own context, we are equally advancing towards renewables, in areas where renewables are viable,” he said in a ministerial panel.
“However our position is very clear (…): we should be able to use the realities of our own nation to provide energy security to the people, because industrialisation is key,” he said, risking the ire of those who are already frustrated by the pace of decarbonisation in Nigeria and elsewhere.
The country is taking advantage of its own natural gas resources to develop its national economy and bolster power generation, industrialisation and clean cooking, the minister said. “Renewables alone cannot do this,” he said, adding that an “energy mix” is needed.
Today there are about 80 million people in Nigeria living without access to electricity — and in Africa as a whole — over 600 million are living without electricity access, the minister said.
“So many millions are still depending on biomass for cooking, which is not clean. So we have to change the narrative, and for Africa — or Nigeria — gas is central to everything. Gas has low emissions and we use gas for power generation and we use gas for industrialisation, transportation.”
A “particular pathway” for energy transition cannot be designed for all countries, he said, adding that energy transition shouldn’t jeopardise the energy security of a nation, or leave lots of people behind.
The issue of how to balance the need for energy access and security against climate commitments is one that affects many African countries.
Ekpo’s comments come on the back of the UAE’s industry minister Sultan Al Jaber’s declaration on the first day of ADIPEC that we now need to talk about “energy addition” instead of “energy transition,” denying the idea that there can be a “single path energy transition” as he described it.
(Writing by Sophie Davies)