Natural Gas: Osinbajo Unveils Book, Says Nigeria Requires Green Hydrogen Investments

 In light of the energy transformation, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo says that Nigeria as a country has to think about investing in green hydrogen.

While launching a book titled 'Understanding Natural Gas: A Nigerian Perspective' on Thursday in Abuja, Osinbajo made the statement.

The vice president exhorted the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) to consider investing in green hydrogen for clean energy.

The book, which contains 12 chapters, was written by Dr. David Ige and Dapo Akinosun (SAN), and it was evaluated by Bello Rabiu and Osten Olorunsola, according to NAN.

According to NAN, by 2050, there will be a 700% growth in the demand for green hydrogen, a low-carbon alternative energy source.

Osinbajo said that there had previously been considerable discussion over green hydrogen in particular, which needed natural gas to create, and that its significant investments were being benefited from globally.

“So we, as a nation, ought to be thinking in terms of this greener gas. I believe that investments in hydrogen is something we should take seriously.

"I am sure that NNPC Limited will take that into account as we plan for the future.

“We must embrace the opportunity to harness our vast natural gas resources responsibly and judiciously, and while simultaneously chatting a path towards a cleaner and greener future,” he said.

The vice president also demanded that an energy transition plan, which included a decade's worth of gas proposal, be faithfully carried out.

“Nigeria’s energy transition plan attempts to chart a pathway forward because we see solar and renewable energy as the bedrock of that plan.

“And the plan is to develop about 250 gigawatts of solar plants by 2060, which is when we intend to achieve the Net 0.

“The plan also outlines our decarbonisation strategies in the area of power, oil and gas and transportation.

“But it also seeks to mitigate against the possible long-term job losses in oil and gas sector in particular, because this is an industry that has dominated our economy for decades,” he said.

According to him, the Russian-Ukrainian War in particular caused petrol prices to soar and forced nations to face the weaknesses in their own energy supply strategies, prompting urgent demands for re-evaluation and diversification.

However, he praised the book's writers, calling it one of the few technical works with a clear policy and legal stance on petrol use.

Author Dr David Ige, CEO of GasInvest Limited, a natural gas consultancy and investment firm, stated that his own involvement with the fuel began precisely 18 years ago.

Ige, a former Group Executive Director for Gas and Power at the previous NNPC, remembered that at the time, there wasn't much information available on gas, if any at all.

However, as he went along, he understood that the solutions being put up for gas were incompatible with the size of the demand for gas.

He said that his policy work on the NNPC gas master plan, his university teachings, his pursuit of a holistic approach to gas, infrastructure, and commercial framework, among other things, were his main motivators and sources of inspiration.

He thanked the co-author for seeing to it that the book's material was adopted for its applicability to legal practitioners, especially the young players who would be breaking into the natural gas business for the first time and industry professionals.

The co-author and founding partner of SimmonsCooper Partners, a preeminent commercial law practise, Akinosun, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), also spoke at the event.

He said that the vice president's suggestion some years ago to research into Gas Law was the beginning of the book's history.

“Even though gas was not popular then I went on the journey.

"How to find materials on gas and learn on it became a challenge, ” he said.

The partnership with Ige, who briefed him on business for young attorneys on gas and agreements together with his passion, according to Akinosun, who specialised in gas, banking and finance, foreign investment, divestiture, and commercial dispute resolution, helped the information transfer.

Numerous dignitaries, including Malam Mele Kyari, GCEO, NNPC Limited, and Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, Chief Justice of Nigeria, were present for the official book presentation and unveiling.