Seplat’s gas development major carbon reduction move for Nigeria – CEO

Seplat Energy Plc, a major Nigerian independent energy company listed on both the Nigerian and London stock exchanges, says its gas development programme constitutes a major boost for Nigeria’s energy transition agenda, as well as the global call for carbon reduction.

“To transit to renewables, you need a grid base that works. So, our Decade of Gas mantra in Nigeria is aimed to provide the right grid base for that transition and Seplat Energy is well aligned to that. If you do not have the right grid base and want to go the way of renewables, you could end up going off-grid with small scale solar panels all around. It is important for the world to understand the peculiarities of Nigeria and that the country needs the right base to transit to renewables,” the Seplat Energy boss explained.

But Nigerian president, Muhammadu Buhari, said at the just-concluded COP26 climate conference in Glasgow that Nigeria would embrace energy transition by 2060, some 25 years after the rest of the world would have gone renewable.

Many experts have thumbed down the Nigerian president’s intended energy transition move. Chijioke Nwaozuzu, a professor of petroleum economics and director of Emerald Energy Institute, University of Port Harcourt, warned that Nigeria would be left behind by the rest of the world.

“Auto manufacturers have been mandated to cease production of vehicles fueled by fossil fuels. The deadline for battery powered vehicles is by 2035. How about that; how many car manufacturing plants do we have,” Nwaozuzu retorted.

For Sunny Nwachukwu, a pure and applied chemist, with an MBA in management, an Onitsha-based industrialist and vice president, finance, Onitsha Chamber of Commerce (ONICCIMA), said with not less than 100 countries already signed up for the net-zero, climate-resilient future, “energy transition is a popular choice.”

“Time is of essence, as a matter of urgency…the longer timeline for 2060 pronounced by Nigeria’s president Buhari appears controversial, and poses some level of concerns about the nation’s preparedness and seriousness to join the comity of nations in the fight against life-threatening global climate change,” Nwachukwu said.

He, however, said the nation’s fossil fuels stock (not yet tapped or exploited abundant crude oil and natural gas reserves) could be a reason for President Buhari’s statement, without being mindful of the sensitivity the precarious situation demands.

Meanwhile, Brown, who also spoke in a panel session dubbed, “Upstream Value Creation: Unbounded Opportunities Post-COVID”, where he outlined the company’s business strides, as well as its future strategies, said: “Nigeria must have energy which is right for its population. It has over 200 million people today and by 2050, there would probably be over 400 million Nigerians, which makes it the third most populous place in the world. For the 400 million people expected, we need to provide the right infrastructure. If you don’t, you are going to have a population migration as the average age in the country today is 18.”

He said Seplat Energy’s business plans were on three-pronged and there are three pillars to it: the upstream oil and gas, where the company is a big independent producer in-country; gas processing business with existing and efficient gas plants, to be biggest gas processor in-country by early 2023, with a critical model for electrification in-country. The pillar three is the renewable business, making a very strong intent to give the transition energy that is right for Nigeria.

He explained that the pillars are there to not only deliver the right energy mix, but other issues prevalent in the Nigerian space, adding that: “Nigeria has been described as a rich oil producing country, but there is more gas. The federal government has identified this and has put forward the Decade of Gas narrative. The gas profile would last longer than that of oil as gas could be produced for a much longer period, and is an efficient fuel.

“The benefit of gas is very clear: it is a carbon reduction energy source today. Currently, Nigeria’s electricity source is predominantly off-grid diesel. Gas-fired power displaces the diesel option and has CO2 emission reduction of 30 to 50 percent depending on the technology deployed. So, for every molecule of gas we put into the market, we displace carbon. By displacing diesel-fired power, we are actively reducing carbon. But for Seplat Energy, this carbon reduction has to be proven,” Brown said.

He explained that Seplat bought its assets from the IOCs in 2010, and have continued to grow them over the years; being very successful in acquiring mature assets divested by the IOCs in Nigeria and growing the reserves base and production from those assets. When the company began operations in 2010, its primary assets (OMLs 4, 38 & 41) had 2P reserves of 148 MMboe. Over the last 11 years, it has executed several projects focused on converting stranded 2C resources (in unappraised discoveries and partially appraised fields and some producing fields) to 2P reserves, and has realized an organic growth in the assets’ 2P reserves to the current level of 275 MMboe. Over the same period, the company had also drilled over 60 development wells in the assets, resulting in an increase in the average production from c.18 Mboepd to the current rate of c.40 Mboepd, and described Seplat Energy as a driver of growth in Nigeria.