By Adenike Kaffi
Reliance on the success and fortunes recorded in exploration activities coupled with the use of efficient international best practices, Nigerians have been reassured of a more promising future for oil exploration activities.
This was the submission of the University of Ibadan Alumni Association (UIAA) in a National Public Service Lecture delivered by Dr. Mazadu Bako; a former Group General Manager of NNPC titled “Frontier Basin Hydrocarbon Exploration: The Nigerian Experience” held at the Dame Edith Okowa Auditorium University of Ibadan on Thursday.
According to Bako, energy transition means a better functioning of the sector, hence commitment to energy transition would put the loopholes in check and ensure a continuous prosperity of the sector.
He added that the government would not be investing so much money on exploration activities if it was not well utilized or yielding.
Speaking on the environmental hazards of exploration activities, he said that there has been tremendous improvement on the environment because there are rules and boundaries now for undertaking any project in the oil industry.
He added that environmental base line studies must be done and analysis conducted using the environmental impact assessment in a bid to know the impact it will have on the host communities.
On the impacts of dependence on other sources of energy like solar, on the prosperity of the hydrocarbon sector, he noted that there would not be any impact on the hydrocarbon exploration because “it is the ways and means where we have to reduce the emissions of the carbon gasses and now if you say you are going to stop because hydrocarbon has some gasses and this, no, you must do this exploration very efficiently using international best practices so that you don’t emit those gasses. That is the essence of that.
“It is a gradual process. If you say you are not going to have hydrocarbons anymore, look at your house, what do you have? The products are from hydrocarbons. The seat I am sitting on, most of it except for the wood is completely hydrocarbon. Some of the dresses we are wearing, if it is not cotton, you see some of its elements are hydrocarbon. So, we cannot say we are going to stop the hydrocarbon but we must explore and refine it with great efficiency.
“When you look at it critically, you cannot do without hydrocarbon because the other sources do not have the byproduct that can stand in. You are not going to get carbon black from them to do your tyres. You are not going to get the polyethylene and the rest of them. You know we use the gas also for fertilizer, so, what do you do? You cannot stop all those but just be efficient. That is the watchword, efficient use of international best practices then you get clean energy.” He posited.
The chairperson of the event; Prof. Charity Ashimem Angya OON; a former Vice Chancellor of Benue State University Makurdi had earlier in her welcome address expressed joy at the consistent efforts of the UIAA in bringing to the public light important topics of national concern which has always been dealt with by outstanding lecturers from all walks of life.
Earlier in his welcome remarks, the President of UIAA Worldwide, Prof. Saawua Gabriel Nyityo asserted that the major concern of the world in the 21st century is renewable fuels. There is new thinking in some quarters that renewable fuels such as the sun, water, and so on are cleaner and therefore environmentally friendly. Gas and Petrol is not renewable and tends to destroy the ecosystem.
The lecture had in attendance the Vice Chancellor of UI; Prof. Kayode Adebowale, UIAA former Worldwide President, Chief Dr. Kemi Emina, Dr. Oyinade Olujimi Tomori UIAA Worldwide Treasurer, other executives of the UIAA, President of Nigeria Mining and Geological Society of Nigeria, lecturers and students of the university amongst many others.
