Kyari Advocates Academia-Industry Collaboration For Energy Sufficiency, Sustainability

<h4>Kyari Advocates<&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p><strong><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng">OpenLife Nigeria<&sol;a><&sol;strong> reports that the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited &lpar;NNPC Ltd&period;&rpar;&comma; Mr&period; Mele Kyari has called for collaboration between the academia and the Oil &amp&semi; Gas Industry towards addressing the challenges of energy sufficiency and sustainability&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>This is contained in a statement signed by Olufemi O&period; Soneye&comma; Chief Corporate Communications Officer&comma;<br &sol;>&NewLine;NNPC Ltd and made available to OpenLife&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>According to the statement&comma; Kyari made this call while speaking as a Guest Lecturer during the 2024 Faculty Lecture titled&comma; &&num;8220&semi;Energy Security&comma; Sustainability and Profitability in Nigeria&colon; Advances&comma; Challenges and Opportunities&comma;” organized by the Faculty of Science of the Obafemi Awolowo University &lpar;OAU&rpar;&comma; Ile-Ife&comma; Osun State&comma; on Wednesday&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In his lecture&comma; Kyari highlighted the important role academic communities&comma; such as the prestigious OAU&comma; play in safeguarding national energy security through research and collaboration with the industry&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>While pointing out the challenges hindering energy security in Nigeria to include rapid population growth&comma; pipeline vandalism&comma; and crude oil theft&comma; Kyari identified energy conservation&comma; diversification&comma; and efficiency measures as major avenues for enhancing energy security&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Addressing the projected rapid population growth&comma; Kyari harped on the importance of finding solutions to ensure sustainable energy security for the benefit of current and future generations&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>He underscored the intensified competition for vital resources and urbanization drive&comma; which would lead to a doubling of Nigeria&&num;8217&semi;s energy demand by 2050&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>On the challenges posed by pipeline vandalism and crude oil theft&comma; the GCEO observed that the issues have impacted NNPC Ltd&period;&&num;8217&semi;s operations&comma; stressing that the establishment of a command-and-control center has aided the detection and destruction of illegal refinery sites&comma; removal of illegal connections&comma; thereby addressing vandalism across operating corridors since 2021&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The centre provides livestreaming of surveillance data to security forces&comma; contributing to the detection and destruction of over 5&comma;686 Illegal Refinery &lpar;IR&rpar; sites and the removal of 4&comma;480 Illegal Connections &lpar;ICs&rpar; from 2021 to the present&comma;” the GCEO added&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Acknowledging the severity of vandalism and oil theft&comma; Kyari hinted at a strategic shift&comma; focusing on increased products trucking and storage in underground tankages at NNPC filling stations nationwide&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>He highlighted NNPC Ltd&period;&&num;8217&semi;s expanded retail assets&comma; making it the largest single downstream company in sub-Saharan Africa after acquiring OVH retail stations and associated downstream infrastructure in 2021&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>While underscoring NNPC Ltd&period;&&num;8217&semi;s transformation into a fully commercial limited liability energy company following the passage of the Petroleum Industry Act in 2021&comma; Kyari said the removal of fuel subsidies has allowed the Company to play a more active commercial role&comma; ensuring profitability and delivering greater value to Nigeria&&num;8217&semi;s growing population&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;