GUINEA-CONAKRYDESERVES A JUST ENERGY TRANSITION AND MORE OIL AND...

GUINEA-CONAKRYDESERVES A JUST ENERGY TRANSITION AND MORE OIL AND GAS INVESTMENT

Nov 24, 202110:00m

SUMMARY

The socio-economiceffects of stranded resources are likely to be profound.

BY: AFRICANENERGY FORUM

POSTED IN:

COMPLIMENTARY, NATURALGAS & LNG NEWS, AFRICA, GLOBAL GAS PERSPECTIVES, CORPORATE, EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION

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Under pressure from climate change and energytransition directives, a growing list of oil and gas majors is shifting fromfossil fuels to renewables. As a result, they’re pulling out of or reducinginvestment in some of the world’s most economically vulnerablehydrocarbon-producing nations, most of them in Africa. Ghana, Liberia, andNigeria are among the early victims. The socio-economic effects of strandedresources are likely to be profound. For now, at least, leaving oil and gas inthe ground means leaving impoverished people in the dark.

Fortunately, prospects remain bright for otherparts of West Africa — but only if the strategic development of oil and gas isallowed to continue unabated and the continent is allowed to set its owntimetable for addressing GHG and other climate challenges.

Many investors will be looking forward tohaving serious conversations about the potential of Guinea Conakry duringthe MSGBC Oil, Gas and Power Conference in Dakar scheduled forDecember 16 and 17th under the patronage of President Macky Sall. Thetwo-day forum will bring together energy industry stakeholders from more than20 nations to discuss some of the most pressing problems facing African oil,gas, and power sectors in the era of growing climate change risk.

Despite energy companies exiting somehydrocarbon-producing regions of Africa in their attempt to meet net-zeroemissions goals and avoid the reputational risk of developing fossil fuels,geophysicists and analysts have high hopes for Mauritania, Senegal, The Gambia,Guinea-Bissau, and Guinea-Conakry (MSGBC) basin. Energy data company TGS hascalled MSGBC “a shining light of African exploration” while IHS Markit said itrepresents “one of the most exciting areas of frontier exploration in theworld.” Australia’s FAR is one of the E&P companies planning to takeadvantage of the basin’s potential. In partnership with Petronas, the nationaloil and gas company of Malaysia, FAR has contracted a deepwater explorationship offshore Gambia and is targeting 1.1 billion barrels of prospective oilresources on a best estimate 100% recoverable basis. An exploration well wasexpected to begin between October 1 and November 30, meaning a first glimpse ofnewfound wealth in the area might be just days or weeks away. It will be thefirst well drilled in the basin since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

As for Guinea-Conakry, continued developmentof the MSGBC basin could accelerate our country’s economic growth and helpimprove a power grid that falls far short of meeting our nation’s needs.

Guinea has just one electricity distributionfacility for 13.5 million inhabitants, with a reach largely limited to Conakryand a handful of small cities. In 2019, access to electricity was slightly morethan 66%; in rural areas, the figure drops to less than 10%. As home to thesources of the Niger, Gambia, and Senegal rivers, Guinea’s hydropower potentialis enormous but has been largely unfulfilled for decades, although the 240 MWKaleta project 135 miles from Conakry and the 450 MW Souapiti dam — bothproducts of Chinese investment — are contributing to the electricity load.

Still, in the absence of modern fuels, mostrural Guineans rely on firewood and charcoal for cooking. The only form ofrenewables widely available is traditional solid biofuel, not wind, solar, oreven hydropower.

Unlike most of the Western countries that aresetting net-zero and other climate schedules, Guinea is a carbon sink, that is,an area with particularly abundant natural resources, especially forests, thatabsorbs more carbon from the atmosphere than it produces. All told, Guinea’scontribution to global greenhouse gas emissions is less than 0.1%. It’sestimated that as we work to bring people out of poverty and overcome foodinsecurity, emissions will grow by about 4.4% annually.

As we will discuss at the MSGBC Oil, Gas andPower Conference in Dakar, we are not inured to the challenges of climatechange; neither are any of the countries who will be represented there. Werealize that even though our carbon footprint is a small fraction of most othernations, we know that certain sectors of our economy are particularlysusceptible to climate change, including agriculture.

What many in Guinea are asking for is theright and privilege of creating their own sustainability roadmap, one thatallows them the dignity to use their resources to bring modern energy to theirpeople, to provide well-paying jobs, to invite foreign investment, and todetermine how best to keep their limited GHG emissions in check. Guinea-Conakryshould be entitled to create energy policies that reflect its reality, not therealities of the Western nations that have stronger economies and, as a result,contribute far more emissions than Guinea Conakry does.

The African Energy Chamber is looking forwardto meeting and to broadening the discussion about oil and gas investment inAfrica and the effect it will have on climate and our people.

The statements, opinionsand data contained in the content published in Global Gas Perspectives aresolely those of the individual authors and contributors and not of thepublisher and the editor(s) of Natural Gas World.