Huge opportunity in Nigeria’s energy sector, says Seplat boss

Mr Roger Brown, Chief Executive Officer, Seplat Energy Plc, says there is huge opportunity in Nigeria’s energy sector for investors, as demand will continue to grow as Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country increases.

He said that about 80 million Nigerians lack access to electricity due to the country’s energy deficit.

The Seplat boss made these known while delivering a keynote address at the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE) 2021 Conference on Tuesday in Lagos.

Our correspondent reports that the 39th Edition of the NAPE Conference had as its theme, ”Petroleum Exploration and Production in a New World: What Next After the Global Crisis”.

Represented by Mr Effiong Okon, Operations Director, Seplat Energy Plc, Brown said Nigeria had less than 11GW generating capacity on grid and much of it remains unused owing to inefficiencies and gas supply constraints.

According to him, distribution is not well developed across the country and suffers poor maintenance, with frequent blackouts which lead to supplementing on-grid generation with generating sets.

He said Nigeria’s GDP was currently N468 billion and was expected to rise to N973 billion by 2040, which would increase energy demand in the country.

Brown said Seplat Energy was in full support of the Federal Government’s plan to use Nigeria’s abundant gas resources as the nation’s transition fuel to cleaner sources of energy and reduction of carbon emissions.

He said: “The Global Energy Forum forecast petroleum will remain part of
the global energy mix during the transition to low-carbon fuels”.

“Discontinuing the use of all fossil fuels in energy deprived regions
like Africa without harnessing gas would do more harm than good, particularly due to low emission levels in Africa, the energy deficit and the abundance of gas resources.”

”Nigeria has the highest portion of unelectrified people in the world. 80 million individuals do not have access to electricity.”

“Achieving a ‘Just Transition’ for Nigeria would require providing universal access to both electricity and clean cooking devices while ensuring reduction in emissions.”

He maintained that the company was committed to providing the required energy for Nigeria’s sustenance now and in the future, given the country’s huge growth potential.

Brown said Seplat Energy was currently supplying between 25 to 30 per cent of gas to power generating plants in the country and would continue to make more investment to deepen gas utilisation.