Nigeria’s leading energy company, Shell, has reiterated its commitment to supporting efforts to help the country meet its lower carbon emission target.
Managing Director of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo), Mrs. Eloho Aiboni, who made the commitment, yesterday in Lagos at the opening session of the 2022 edition of the Sub-Saharan African International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (SAIPEC), said “Apart from this being the right thing to do, it is also good for our business in Nigeria.”
Aiboni said Shell companies in Nigeria have a clearly defined strategy to support the country’s net zero emission target, which she said, was also in alignment with the Shell group’s ambition.
She said, “Shell companies in Nigeria are contributing to meeting this aggressive target by driving operational excellence of our existing assets, generating maximum value to secure and fund our growth and energy transition activities, and driving alternative energy solutions through the Shell-seeded impact investing company, All-On.”
She said Shell was also expanding its domestic gas delivery network while building capability and relevant skills in the upstream towards energy transition.
Aiboni, who was represented by Shell’s General Manager Business Relations, Mr. Bashir Bello, described Shell’s gas infrastructure project in Aba, Abia State as one of the many contributions Shell is making to boost industrialisation through the use of gas while helping to cut down on carbon emission.
“Our provision of access to cleaner and stable source of energy, through our gas pipelines, provides electricity to the popular Ariaria International Market in Aba which has over 37,000 shops and an estimated one million traders,”Aiboni said.
She said Shell remained committed to supporting the Paris Agreement’s aim to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. “We also are working hard to help those who use our products to reduce their own emission.”
According to Aiboni, about 80 metric tonnes of Shell’s global CO2 emission in 2019 for instance, came from its direct and indirect operations compared to over 1,500 metric tonnes of CO2 from Shell’s customers’ use of the company’s products.
“The opportunities lie, therefore, in more environmentally friendly energy products and alternative energy sources including solar and hydrogen.”
In his address, Chairman of the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN), Mr Nicolas Odinuwe, said delegates from across over 25 countries in Sub-Sahara Africa were in Lagos for the on-going 6th edition of the Sub-Sahara Africa International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (SAIPEC).
Odinuwe said PETAN was the largest and leading advocacy group representing Nigerian oil and gas service companies with membership cutting across the entire value chain of the oil sector which have been delivering quality services to the industry for over 30 years.
He stated that the gains of SAIPEC underscore PETAN’s emphasis on the future of the oil/gas/energy industry through collaboration, entrepreneurship, and innovation.
He also pointed out that through topical discussions, debates and interactions, stakeholders and key players at the conference will have ample opportunities to share ideas and critical insights into the region’s hydrocarbon and energy transition-related businesses.
Odinuwe appealed to governments, representatives, policy makers, legislators, captains of industry and all industry stakeholders to incorporate the fall-outs of the SAIPEC conference into their plans, programmes and policies for a better operating environment that will have the desired positive effect on the respective economies of African nations.
He noted that though the world was yet to emerge from the throes of COVID-19, the pandemic has changed the global economy in unexpected ways.
The PETAN chairman disclosed that “stabilized and stabilizing markets have all encouraged innovation in several industries despite supply chain disruptions.
“Private-market investors are uniquely positioned to benefit from the innovation super cycle that is being driven by digitization of the global economy, a decade-long transformation accelerated by the pandemic.”
He explained that this development presents huge opportunities for regional collaboration and partnerships.
“Sub-Sahara Africa is said to be the last energy frontier and global hub. A key enabler is to create a collaborative ecosystem between the local industry stakeholders within the sub-region alongside the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
“The value chain in the oil, gas and energy industry is such that if properly harnessed, will transform the economy of the entire continent. The challenge has been an enabling environment to create a private sector-led industry. Government across Africa, especially the oil and gas producing sub-Saharan countries, should provide necessary incentives to attract private-sector investments across the entire value chain. This will trigger a massive economic revolution, human capital development and deepen local content across Africa”, Odinuwe stated.
The theme for this year’s SAIPEC: “Fostering Collaboration to create cross-border partnerships across the oil, gas and energy spectrum”, Odinuwe said was also “designed to provide us the rare opportunity – as with previous ones – to renew our friendships, make new ones and strengthen the professional network that binds us together as one family dedicated to the advancement of the oil/gas and energy industry and the sociopolitical and economic development of Sub-Saharan Africa”.
Dignitaries, some of who were speakers at the confab include Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva; the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Engr. Simbi Kesiye Wabote; the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr Mele Kolo Kyari; the former Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr Ibe Kachikwu.
Others are the Secretary General of the African Petroleum Producer’s Organization (APPO), Dr Omar Farouk Ibrahim; the former Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG), Mr Tony Attah; federal lawmakers oversighting the Nigeria oil industry and top members of the Board of Trustees and Executive Board of PETAN; icons and captains of Industry from across Africa, and many others.

By: Nelson Chukwudi