The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) on Monday, November 26, said Nigeria has lost its most valued crude oil buyers, even as its erstwhile gas customers are now competing with it.
Mordecai Ladan, the director, DPR, said the oil and gas industry seemed to be under a new threat, which he described as the renewed dislike and global war against fossil fuels and the quest for renewable and cleaner energy.
Ladan speaking at the 18th edition of the International HSE Biennial Conference on the Oil and Gas Industry in Nigeria said: “Over the years, the threat against fossil fuels had always been on paper, but today, it is more real than ever, based on some clear evidence I like to draw our attention to.”
The director said three among the biggest technology companies, including Google and Apple, had made attempts at electric cars to replace petrol and diesel engines, with that of Tesla taking the world by surprise.
Ladan said: “Not only did the first two releases of Tesla outsell sales forecasts, they were actually oversubscribed, and the demand keeps rising while new models are being added.
As we speak, some of the big international oil companies here seated are funding gigantic researches into alternative fuels, which include the use of cheap, common algae.
In previous reports, the minister of state for petroleum resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, has said the plan to get the Nigeria’s ailing refineries to work at almost full capacity will not materialise by 2019.
The minister stated this on Monday, November 26, in Lagos at the 18th edition of the International HSE Biennial Conference on the Oil and Gas Industry in Nigeria. Dr Kachikwu made the confession more than a year after he vowed to resign if he fails to achieve the target.
“I have said 2019, and that is the target that I gave,” the minister told the BBC in May 2017, while responding to a question about when Nigeria would be self-sufficient in refining petroleum products.