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Energy Transition: Nigeria, Africa need more Oil, Gas Investment.

Despite renewed calls for a shift from fossil fuel investments,  Nigeria and Africa have been identified as requiring more investments in the oil and gas space.

Former Managing Director of Equinor Nigeria and current Managing Director, Business Development, Alta Trading UK Limited, Heine Melkevik, stated this during the spotlight session at African Energy Week (AEW) 2021, which ended in South Africa, last week.

“The reality is that Nigeria and Africa need more investment in the oil and gas space. The transition is good because you will invest in more renewables, but, in order to industrialise,  we need to invest in oil and gas. It is a gradual and repetitive process. What will happen now is, you will have a test again and again of the resolve and attitude of Nigeria. You need to take some risks, as this is a long-term game. The opportunities in Nigeria, from upstream to midstream to downstream, are too big to ignore,” stated Melkevik.

Other speakers and key Nigerian players  who spoke at the AEW 2021 spotlight session,  included; Dr Adedapo Odulaja, Governor of OPEC for Nigeria, and Special Adviser, International Energy Relations, SA-IER, Ministry of Petroleum Resources of Nigeria; Akinwole Omoboriowo II, CEO, Genesis Energy; Kola Karim, Managing Director and CEO, Shoreline Energy International; Olakunle Williams, CEO, QSL-GP; Heine Melkevik, former Managing Director Equinor Nigeria and current Managing Director, Business Development, Alta Trading UK Limited; and Lawal Musa, Energy Analyst at the Nigerian National Petroleum Company(NNPC  Limited) maintained that  Nigeria remains investment destination of choice in Africa in 2021 and beyond.

With over 36 billion barrels of oil and 200 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, Nigeria has emerged as one of Africa’s biggest energy sectors, attracting significant levels of investment and driving project developments across the entire energy value chain.

However, with global capital expenditure tightening due to the COVID-19 pandemic and international finance trends, shifting from fossil fuels to renewable resources, African hydrocarbon players, such as Nigeria, have found themselves competing for investment. Through a complete sectoral restructuring, and by capitalizing on progressive legislature and national energy policies to accelerate investment post-COVID-19, Nigeria has made a strong case for investment.

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