American Oil and Gas Reporter - August 2021 - 23

Production and Exploration Association
chief Andrew McConville. " The IEA
report doesn't take into account future
negative emission technologies and offsets
from outside the energy sector-two things
that are likely to happen and will allow
vital and necessary future development
of oil and gas fields. "
In urging policymakers to maintain a
degree of skepticism about the wisdom
of the IEA road map, McConville isn't
alone. " We are bringing emissions down, "
states Angus Taylor, Australia's Minister
for Energy and Emissions Reduction,
" but we are going to do it in a way that
ensures we have that affordable power
that Australians need. "
Rather than being dictated to by entities
abroad, Taylor argues that Australia must
proceed at a pace that makes sense locally.
And part of these local considerations
includes ensuring that people have energy
and jobs. IEA's call to cease fossil fuel
investment will impede both metrics.
" Global gas demand is forecast to
grow by 1.5% on average per year out to
2025, providing incentive to ensure our
large gas fields . . . are developed as soon
as possible, " says Keith Pitt, minister for
resources. " Large upcoming offshore developments
. . . will create thousands of
new high-wage jobs. "
Africa's Realities
The same holds true for African
countries.
While environmental causes are a
major focus in the West, lawmakers in
Africa's developing countries are more
concerned with living wages and supplying
the continent's growing population with
basic necessities.
IEA's plan amounts to austerity measures
that will see Africans leaving petroleum
resources in the ground. It essentially
will brand poor Africans as criminals, or
at least enemies of the environment, for
using fossil fuels.
This is folly. Keep in mind the critical
role that natural gas is playing in the global
transition to clean energy: It is an affordable
and reliable bridge to renewables and is
particularly important to Africa. As I have
written in the past, the African Energy
Chamber's 2021 Africa Energy Outlook
report predicts African gas production and
consumption will rise in the 2020s. As a
result, Africa's natural gas sector soon will
be responsible for large-scale job creation,
increased opportunities for monetization
and economic diversification, and critical
gas-to-power initiatives that will bring reliable
electricity to more Africans. These
significant benefits should not be dismissed
in the name of achieving net zero emissions
on deadline. To tell African countries with
gas potential such as Mozambique, Tanzania,
Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, Senegal, Libya,
Algeria, South Africa, Angola and many
others that they cannot monetize their gas,
but rather should wait for foreign aid and
handouts from their western counterparts,
makes no sense.
What's more, we cannot overlook the
fact that renewable energy solutions are
still young technologies-they are less reliable
and more expensive per unit of
power than tried-and-true petroleum products.
Not only that, but achieving net
zero by 2050 will require widespread
adoption of technologies that are not even
available yet.
Don't get me wrong: I understand the
importance of working toward renewables.
I believe they are the future
of the energy industry. However,
the global energy transition
must be inclusive,
equitable and just. Unfortunately,
the plan IEA lays
out is none of these.
IEA is a respected institution
and its opinions
help shape the rhetoric of
the global energy market.
Instead of mandating these
strict guidelines from
abroad, IEA should try
working with African countries
to find solutions that
we actually can abide. At
the very least, I encourage
IEA to consider partnerships
with African private
sector and financial institutions,
whose collaboration
with indigenous and
international energy stakeholders
provides invaluable
insight from all sides across
NJ AYUK is founder and executive chairman of the African Energy
Chamber, founder and chief executive officer of Centurion Law Group,
author of " Billions at Play: The Future of African Energy and Doing
Deals " and co-author of " Big Barrels: African Oil and Gas and the
Quest for Prosperity. " He graduated from the University of Maryland,
earned a J.D. from William Mitchell College of Law and an M.B.A. from
the New York Institute of Technology.
AUGUST 2021 23
the energy industry. IEA should use its
voice to push for what I always have
believed Africa needs the most at this
time. Free markets, personal responsibility,
lighter regulation, low taxes,
limited government, individual liberties
and economic empowerment will boost
African energy markets and economies.
Africa deserves the chance to capitalize
on its own oil and gas to strengthen itself,
rather than being bullied onto a path determined
by Western institutions that do
not face the same obstacles. We must be
able to improve our energy sector by exploring
our continent's full potential in a
way that benefits our people.
More oil and natural gas as the main
source of energy, along with growth in
renewables to augment oil and gas supplies,
truly is the only path to economic stability
and growth for all nations in the foreseeable
future. It would be better to recognize
their value and importance than to pretend
humanity can exist without them. Oil and
gas truly enable the advancement of health,
freedom and prosperity. ❒
Adapted for AOGR from APO Group
on behalf of the African Energy Chamber.
American Oil and Gas Reporter - August 2021

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