•As end to coal remains elusive
The current attention being shifted to gas in the face of the Ukraine and Russia war as well as the energy transition may fade sooner than expected if the agreement of the world’s seven richest countries (G-7) to prioritise renewable energy over gas is implemented.

The countries – Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, however, are unable to agree on a specific date to end the use of coal in the face of the current energy crisis.

The G7 Ministers’ Meeting on Climate, Energy and Environment in Sapporo, Japan Meeting on Climate, Energy and Environment in Sapporo, Japan agreed on a call for a reduction in gas consumption and increasing electricity from renewable sources while phasing out fossil fuels faster and building no new coal-fired plants.

Nigeria currently has proven coal reserves of about 639 million metric tonnes while the inferred reserves are about 2.75 billion metric tonnes. Its gas reserves stand at about 209 trillion standard cubic feet and about 37 billion barrels of crude oil reserves.

The G7 environment and energy ministers, however, could not agree on a specific date to exit coal power, as France’s Agnes Pannier-Runacher noted that the G7 countries have agreed that the first response to the energy crisis must be to reduce energy and gas consumption.

Pannier-Runacher said: “For the first time, the G7 said that we must accelerate the phasing out of all unabated fossil fuels… Finally, it sent a message about accelerating renewable energy.

The development is coming at a time when Nigeria is shifting attention to gas with the hope that the resources would serve as a transition fuel.

Last week, Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), harped on the need to complete the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) pipeline, Trans-Sahara Gas Pipelines and Nigerian -Morocco pipeline.

The Trans-Sahara Gas Pipelines project is to cost $13 billion, while the Nigerian-Morocco pipeline, a 6,000 kilometre project, which would traverse 13 African nations along the Atlantic coast and supply the landlocked countries, would cost $25 billion and the 614 kilometre AKK pipeline was awarded for $2.8 billion.

Although Nigeria has created several initiatives to reinvent gas amid dwindling oil revenue, the Ukraine and Russia war has changed the dynamics in the energy sector, forcing Europe to focus on the resource and Africa as a strategic partner for the product.

The G7 decided to endorse a goal to “drastically increase electricity generated by renewable energies as the Ministers reportedly appeared to be considering numerical targets for increasing solar power capacity to at least 1 terawatt and offshore wind power capacity to 150 gigawatts by 2030.

Energy-poor Japan was pushing for investments to stay for the gas industry to keep the liquefied natural gas in the energy mix as a transition fuel, winning some – but not all – support from the rest of G7.

“The imperatives on gas supply are only short-term. This implicitly means that we cannot invest in the exploration of new gas capacity,” Pannier-Runacher said, adding that nuclear energy is backed by G7 as a “solution for the energy transition” with the security of supply.

Japan’s Economy and Trade Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said: “We, the G7, need to not only reduce our emissions but also take concrete actions to achieve emission reductions globally,” in his opening remarks, singling out countries in the “Global South”.