Fact: Gas prices are surging. And the growing uncertainty of its rise in Ghana and across the world could mean that Africa may struggle to meet the consumption needs of its consumers, according to Deputy Minister of Petroleum Mohammed Amin Adam.
The solution, Dr Amin Adam says, is to target anchor projects in the oil and gas industry.
Speaking at the Regional Energy Cooperation Summit in Accra Wednesday, he said oil-rich countries including Nigeria, Angola and Equatorial Guinea are slowly losing the race to key trading partners like the United States, a country extracting oil from its own land through the controversial process of fracking.
“Oil and gas projects in Africa must as a result serve as anchor projects for regional energy development and industrialization as that will create domestic demand for [oil and gas] resources and integrate resource industries with the rest of the economy.”
To support his argument, he pulled qualitative analysis from Global Data, which illustrates that 88 upcoming African oil and gas fields are expected to receive $80 billion between 2018-2025. The amount is intended to produce 12 million barrels of crude oil and 178 billion cubic feet of gas.
“These projects – when executed – could support our quests to supply the energy needs of our people through gas to power projects.”
Adding to the potential success of anchor projects would be to explore other alternative energy solutions that could lead to bigger developmental feats, he explained.
Key members at the Regional Energy Cooperation Summit in Accra Monday, including National Petroleum Authority CEO Hassan Tampuli (second right, in smock).
“The renewable energy revolution has an important role to play in the supply of electricity and its development must be planned together with gas-to-power projects.”
He added that “renewable energy alternatives could supply 22% of Africa’s total final energy consumption by 2030 and could account for up to $32 billion per year,” a statement from the National Petroleum Authority reads.
“Renewables are growing rapidly, influenced by economics, the environment and the need for energy security,” he said.
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