Calls by developed world to end hydro carbon production tantamount to declaration of war – Wabote.

 Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) , SimbiWabote has said that  pegging a fixed date for the end of the production and use of hydrocarbon by European and developed countries  is tantamount  to  a declaration of war against the developing countries.

Wabote, who spoke  at the median edition of the African Local Content Investment Forum, (ALCIF) held in Lagos on Monday, March 07, 2022, stated  that fossil fuel, which has largely contributed to the development that the world is  witnessing today must not be castigated into extinction.

Recall that the Group Managing Director of  the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation , Mlele  Kyari had said in January that “putting every country in the same energy transition speed could therefore result in unanticipated collateral damage that can spark energy crisis and deny developing countries access to available and cheaper energy for growth.”

The Monday event, which was organised for Africa to develop a robust response against the push for Africa to abandon the use of its hydro carbon resources, especially as African countries continue to discover crude oil, to kick start a development framework for the establishment of a pull of fund.

 Essentially, the fund will be used for  major oil and gas projects and the attraction of investors into African  countries, to further deepen discussions on the subject and agree on the way forward, as well as to propose some ideas to enhance continental collaboration and global support for ‘our natural recourses.

 It  was attended by major oil stakeholders,  experts in finance, investment, international trade as well as some beneficiaries of the Project 100.

ALCIF is a follow up of the discussions from the African Local Content Investment Round table held in Bayelsa state last year.

Wabote also noted that that the quest for energy transition as it is being advocated in some European countries and other parts of the world is now taking center stage, and as this strength progresses, the hydrocarbon resources in Africa is becoming the endangered resources.

“Whereas the addition of new form of energy into the mixture of options available for utilization by mankind has always followed a normal course of acceptance and adoption, this is the first time a group of nations in the name of mankind is setting deadline for adoption of one form of energy to the detriment of the other.

“This has never happened in the history of mankind,” he said.

According to him,  at the COP26 event held in Glasgow in late 2021, these countries made commitment on behalf of the rest to curb emissions, align the finance sector with the net zero by 2050, ditch combustion engines, accelerate the phase out of coal, and end international financing of fossil fuel.

“This is perhaps to put it mildly, a declaration of war,” he said.

“Before, the discussion was on endangered species, now, it is endangered resources, and if you extrapolate that, it is endangered continent.

Already, some European banks are pulling out of hydrocarbon development projects, and most of the international operating companies are shying away from investments in hydrocarbon projects to avoid backlash from green energy activists.

According to him, these unfolding scenarios are of huge concern to African leaders and policymakers in the oil and gas industry.

He, however, called on African governments and stakeholders to work towards the growth and development of the African continent.

“I wish to reiterate that there is genuine battle for the soul of hydrocarbon industry in Africa. We must all rise to save the industry, or standby while it perishes right in front our eyes.

“We need to build on the good initiative which is already in place to increase the pool of funds available for hydrocarbon projects, and also motivate credible investors to pick interest in the industry.

“There must be a means of aggregating the various funds being projected by development finance institutions, banks and other agencies, so that the transactions can be carried out.

“While the activists are demonizing the oil and gas industry, our message is consistent with the effect that fossil fuel will not disappear or be transited from the energy mix so soon.

“The business model in oil and gas industry in Africa must change to the one in which there are deliberate in-country value addition to reduce or eliminate reliance on crude exchange,” he added.

It will be recalled that last October, Wabote  said Africa, especially Nigeria, needs capital injection and behavioural changes to achieve the energy transition.

He said: “Nigeria needs a transition process that will create incentives for small renewable energy companies to 90 per cent of Nigerian source of electricity needs to come from renewable energy within 30 years.”

He pointed out that the world was facing energy crises and urged Nigeria to leverage the transition to gas energy. The transition he, however, warned would not happen if stakeholders continued to indulge in conversations without commensurate action.