By Emmanuella Anokam
The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) says it is implementing polices that promote infrastructure expansion, access to facilities and investment in gas processing, storage, and transportation systems.
The Authority Chief of the NMDPRA, Mr Farouk Ahmed, said this on Monday in Abuja, while speaking at the 18th Annual International Conference of the Nigerian Association for Energy Economics (NAEE).
The conference has its theme as “Emerging Geopolitics of Energy: Navigating Global Shifts and Impacts on Developing Economies.”
Ahmed, represented by Prof. Zainab Gobir, Executive Director, Economic Regulations and Strategic Planning Directorate, NMDPRA, said it was also advancing the Gas Infrastructure Blueprint to connect production centres to markets and industrial hubs.
“We are also supporting the Gas Flare Commercialisation Programme, transforming what was once waste into value.
“The NMDPRA is encouraging public-private partnerships to accelerate investment in key infrastructure such as pipelines, LPG facilities, CNG networks and storage depots, designed to strengthen energy security and affordability for Nigerians.
“The Authority has been working diligently to create the enabling environment for this transformation in line with its mandate as enshrined in the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021,” he said.
Speaking on the emerging geopolitics of the global energy landscape, Ahmed said globally, the dynamics of energy were being reshaped by geopolitical tensions, technological disruptions, environmental imperatives, and shifting alliances.
He said the ongoing conflict in Eastern Europe, instability in parts of the Middle East, supply chain realignments and the accelerating global energy transition underscored how volatile the energy landscape had become.
Dr Omar Farouk, Secretary-General, African Petroleum Producers Organisation (APPO), said since the International Energy Agency (IEA) began to strongly advocate the end of fossil fuel use, the agency had admitted that fossil fuels could not be easily eliminated.
“What the IEA has now acknowledged is something APPO has consistently maintained since the formal global shift away from fossil fuels symbolised by the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement.
“As leaders in Africa’s energy industry, I hope this significant admission by the IEA encourages us to be more critical in accepting dogmas presented as scientific facts,” he said.
Also speaking, Mr Osten Olorunsola, Chairman, Energy Institute of Nigeria, said in whatever direction being taken for the global energy transition, Nigeria must understand its economic implications.
Olorunsola, represented by the Group Managing Partner of Tenor Energy Resources Limited, Dr Tim Okon, said the term “transition” implied moving from one system to another, adding that “before it could move, we must first master what we have.
“Right now, we are energy insecure. Our power systems remain fragile, and our mastery of even the existing technologies alternating and direct current systems is still limited.
“So, as we navigate global energy politics, import substitution must remain our first priority. Anything we rely on foreign sources to import, will always be vulnerable to geopolitical manipulation,” he said.
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