The hope of the President-elect of United States of America, Joe Biden, to implement his new policy to control permits for drilling oil and gas would have dire consequences for Sub-Saharan African economies, Dr. Babajide Agunbiade, a Director of National Oilwell Varco, has said.
According to him, he foresees that without political sheltering by Trump’s leadership in Washington, U.S majors like ExxonMobil and Chevron, which have remained focused on the traditional energy business, are beginning to implement strategies for global energy transition like BP and Royal Dutch Shell.
This, he said, would lead to drastic reduction in fossil fuel, which is the main stay of many oil and gas producing countries in that area.
“The implication for Sub-Saharan oil and gas production is that with renewable energy taking the more central stage during the Biden-administration, fossil fuel demand will continue to decline, leading to reduced drilling, production and exploratory activities,” he emphasised in an interview with energynewsafrica.com.
In effect, he stressed that many nations in Sub-Saharan Africa would suffer job losses just like the United States of America and Europe.
This step, Dr. Agunbiade said could equally lead to reduction in global demand for hydrocarbon as a result of the new focus on more desire for renewable energy options in the energy metrix.
Dr. Agunbiade, who is an expert in subsea engineering, noted that should Biden go ahead and ban issuance of federal lands and waters, as well as leasing on public lands, it would automatically result in protecting the climate from further destruction, but would also impact on revenues for Sub-Saharan economies.
“There will be low or zero-carbon energy production, green industry manufacturing and more climate friendly regulations,” he stressed, but assured that Sub-Sahara might not have an immediate plan to shift to renewable energy.
He further anticipates removal of subsidies for fossil fuel, which environmentalists hint pumps about US$2 billion annually into the green industry.
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com