The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has said it would use the vast gas resources across the country as a transition fuel going by the recent global push for energy transition away from hydrocarbons.

In his speech at the 1st National Extractives Dialogue organised by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative in Abuja on Tuesday, the Chief Executive Officer, NNPC, Mele Kyari, stated that the national oil firm was currently revising its strategies on energy transition.

He said, “The aftermath of COP26 in Glasgow has shown that the world is committed to energy transition which the EITl and other stakeholders have also recognised.

“I would like to assure you that as NNPC transitions to a CAMA (Companies and Allied Matters Act) company, we are restructuring our businesses to take advantage of the opportunities that energy transition will bring forth.

“As we commence implementation of our revised strategy, we will use our large gas resource as transition fuel to aid this process.”

Kyari added, “We are committing our resources for the next decade, which is tagged the decade of gas, to explore and produce more gas relative to oil, to power Nigeria and the international community as we transit away from hydrocarbons.

“The next decade ahead will be an interesting one, therefore I call on stakeholders to support the industry and NNPC Limited so that our resources can work for all Nigerians and, by extension, the world.”

Speaking at the dialogue, the Executive Secretary, NIETI, Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, said the event was designed to provide companies, governments and civil society and development partners in the extractive industry a platform to discuss three contemporary issues.

He said the issues include contract transparency, extractive resources benefits sharing and energy transition in West Africa, with a focus on Nigeria, Ghana and Senegal.

“The overall goal is to enable governments, companies, civil society and communities to evaluate the energy industry and proffer evidence-based policy recommendations for the efficient and effective management of natural resource benefits and the transition from fossil fuel to a renewable energy regime with these countries as case studies,” Orji stated.