Uche Cecil Izuora
The Federal Government said the oil and gas industry will witness unprecedented growth with a multibillion dollar deepwater exploration in 2025.
This is as Government has unlocked over $1 billion in investments across the value chain in the last one year.
Speaking on the theme “Future of Energy: Shaping the Workforce of Tomorrow” during the African Energy Week, in South Africa, Olu Arowolo Verheijen, Special Adviser on Energy to President Bola Tinubu, said that by the middle of 2025, Nigeria is expecting to see FID on two more projects, including a multibillion billion-dollar deepwater exploration project, which will be the first of its kind in the country in over a decade – one of many to come.
“We see the abundant opportunities that lie ahead. We see a Nigeria that is a leading global producer and exporter of energy – whether its fossil fuels or renewables.
“We are not held back by the outdated approaches and assumptions of the past. We are open, daring, and eager to leave a legacy that will stand the test of time.” Verheijen declared.
Highlighting some of the achievements of the present administration, the presidential aide said that within the last 12 months, Government has clarified the regulatory roles to create an enabling environment for investments as well as introduced reforms targeted at reducing high operational costs and project execution timelines.
In addition, Verheijen, said Government has introduced a clear set of fiscal incentives for Non-Associated Gas and Deep offshore Oil & Gas gas exploration and production.
This is the first time that Nigeria is outlining a fiscal framework for deepwater gas since basin exploration commenced in 1991.
Also, Verheijen, noted that the Nigeria’s Petroleum Industry Act took twenty years to be passed into law and given Presidential assent, in 2021.
“We are now building on that foundation with an unprecedented sense of urgency, to completely rewrite the narrative of oil and gas investment in Nigeria. We are already seeing the fruit of our work. Regulatory approvals are being expedited, major upstream investment decisions are being finalized.” Verheijen, added.
She said Tinubu Government is determined to ensure it ends up far more consequential in reforming and repositioning Nigeria’s energy sector, than any other administration since democracy returned to Nigeria twenty five years ago.
“And this is something that many more leaders on the African continent must do, going forward, and with a sense of urgency also.”
The Presidential aide also advocated for gender balance in the industry, pointing “Sponsorship makes a great deal of difference. It is what has allowed male leaders to dominate many leadership positions in public and private sector in Africa today.”
She said “It is not because women are less qualified, or less available, or less endowed with what it takes to lead at the highest levels. No. It is simply that men have simply come to enjoy the longstanding serendipity of being more likely to be sponsored into influential positions. It is that simple. And it is now time for women to enjoy equal access to this, to being bet upon, to being given more chances.” she noted.
Verheijen, went on to said that it is not a debate about capacity or competence but because women have proven themselves to be just as capable as men, whether in the energy sector or elsewhere.
” It is against the backdrop I have sketched out above that one must now see what President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has done, creating this opportunity for me to make a difference, and providing the political will and machinery for my team to envision the most ambitious targets one can imagine, and to work hard day in day out to hit those targets.”
Speaking generally she said African is at a point in developmental process where energy access is critical in shaping the continent’s future.
According to her, Our resources (including renewables) are abundant, yet over 75 per cent of the population lack sufficient energy access, adding “As a continent seeking to change this narrative, we must ensure that energy ceases to be the limiting factor in Africa but rather becomes a tool for driving industrialization and development. One of the ways we can address this is through a productive energy workforce.”
She noted however that no doubt that the future we are moving into will be very different from where we are coming and what we are used to as it will take incredible amounts of human energy and a diversity of talent and expertise to enable us adapt to these rapidly evolving and often unpredictable scenarios and circumstances.
In summary, she said we are the ones who will determine the outcome of the delicate balance between energy security, affordability and sustainability for this continent.
She said she will always be grateful to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for giving her opportunity, “and I intend to pay it forward, in all the ways that I can, for multitudes of young women out there just waiting in the wings for their own chance to show what they are capable of doing.”