Harboursandport.com: Houston - The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA,
has emphasised its readiness to develop policies that will see to a smooth
transition from the regime of intense wet cargo operations, which is the major
source of income for the maritime sector in Nigeria, to the inevitable era of
renewable energy which may see less activities in crude oil exploration and
exploitation in the country.
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L-R,
NIMASA DG, Dr Dakuku Peterside presenting plaques Dr Ernest Nwapa while
Chief Operating Officer, Upstream Of NNPC, Alh Bello Rabiu and Bank Anthony
Okoroafor of PETAN looks on at the Offshore Technology Conference 2019 In
Houston Texas.
The Director General of NIMASA, Dr Dakuku Peterside stated this
when delivering a paper at the Africa Regional Workshop with the
theme, the effect of Global Energy Transformation at one of the side
workshops during the just concluded Offshore Technology Conference, OTC in
Houston Texas.
The NIMASA DG noted that though, the Maritime sector in Nigeria
benefitted extensively from oil exploration and exploitation in Nigeria
including limited technological and skill transfer, the time to see both
opportunities and associated risk of the gradual shift towards renewable energy
from fossil fuel for the maritime sector is now.
He said that there may be no need for huge vessels, for
intercontinental shipment of both crude and refined products in years to come,
thus the need for a new logistics dynamics to bring about logistics
diversification.
“We at NIMASA are
working to create a new framework to maximize opportunities provided by
renewable energy. So the world does not leave us behind. As a Maritime
Administration we are taking conscious steps to put the necessary building
blocks for an era of renewable energy when exploration and exploitation of oil
and gas and all associated logistics will no longer play a major role.
“We propose policies to promote
transition to clean and renewable energy. We have accepted the inevitability of
renewable energy in years to come,” he said.
Peterside further stated, there was the need for all African
countries to invest in research so that the advent of renewable energy would
not take the continent by surprise.
In his words “As
government and a people, we must begin to invest in research. We must invest in
quality tailor made education for a future without much income from fossil fuel
and focused mainly on harnessing potentials of renewable energy which abound in
our country.”
He also disclosed that partnership with
other Agencies of Government to undertake research and project into the
immediate and long term future of the Maritime industry in Nigeria is part of
NIMASA preparation for the future with less income from exploration and
exploitation of the oil and gas sector. He noted that the need for Very Large
Crude Carriers VLCCs amongst others would reduce, thus the need to guide
investments in the Nigerian maritime sector.
According to him “our partnership with the Nigerian Content
Development and Monitoring Board to identify the types of vessels that Nigerian
should acquire in order to guarantee good business and return on
investment in the immediate and long term is part of our focus on the future.
We are investing in research to determine the opportunities and threats that
will come with the inevitable shift from fossil fuel to renewable energy”.
While making an energy demand forecast
in Africa to increase by 60% in 2030, Peterside said hydrocarbons will
continue to play a role in the energy mix that will satisfy Africa’s growing
energy needs adding that the shift to renewable energy as source will also
be significant by the year 2030.Dakuku urged African countries, particularly
Governments in West and Sub-Sahara Africa to lay much Emphasis on technology
driven process, research and education.
On his part, Chairman Petroleum Technology Association of
Nigeria, PETAN, Bank-Anthony Okoroafor, noted that the second energy revolution
in the 70s, which saw petroleum energy becoming the major source of energy
replacing Coal energy which had hitherto provided over 62% of world energy
needs in the 1920’s should be an indication of what to expect as the world
gravitate towards renewable energy.
“The cost of solar
energy generation in 2015 has decreased to as low as one sixth the cost in 2005
and the cost is still crashing daily. With the mass production of electric
cars, it is pertinent to note that in no distant future, the “petroleum age”
will become a thing of the past just like coal”. He said.
Stakeholders from the oil and gas and Maritime
industry across the world, particularly from West and Central Africa attended
the regional workshop.
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