An expert in oil, gas and renewable e-media technology, Karo Brown, has called for a massive investment in electronic media literacy among Nigerian youths and petroleum sector personnel.
He described the initiative as the only way to effectively absorb the challenges of the emerging global change from fossil fuel to renewable energy.
Brown, who is the chief executive of Petrodigest Ltd and mouthpiece of Niger Delta Emerging Leaders, made the call while delivering a lecture titled “Sustaining the culture of Excellence in the Petroleum Sector: Petroleum Yesterday, Energy Today, Energy Tomorrow.,” as part of activities commemorating 50 years of the Petroleum Training Institute (PTI), Effurun, Delta State.
In his keynote address during the Students Event Day at the event, Karo Brown noted that “by 2030, the oil refineries in Europe would have winded up while our crude would have no major use in the international market by 2050.”
According to him, “most refineries in Europe will wind up by 2030 because they are changing from fossil fuel to renewable energy.
“Since they are changing to renewable energy, it shows that nobody will be refining fuel. And Shell, Chevron ExxonMobil, Agip Texaco, and Total are already wrapping up production in Land/Swamp Locations within the Niger Delta and have moved deep offshore and by 2050 they would have moved to ENERGY TECH completely.”
The expert disclosed that “the reserve fuel in Europe is what is causing our refinery not to work till today because they need to sell them off, they don’t want to throw them away. They have a lot of reserved petrol in their reservoir and tank farms in Europe.”
Brown spoke further, “If the refineries in Europe are winding up by 2030, why will somebody in Oxford University, who started developing technology for refining fuel, continue in that area again?
“They will not. From the look of things, therefore, Nigeria will produce and consume her crude by 2050.
“So, it is high time we invested in manpower development to drive the gas development roadmap.
“It is of essence that the nation must invest in technology.”
He maintained that in order for Nigeria not to be caught unawares in the unfolding scenario, “the country should embrace electronic media literacy on time, particularly as regards the gas development technology.”
He said, “We should continue to tap the gas technology as our vehicles, generators, and industries are going to be powered by gas in the nearest future. We should continue to tap gas technology.
“Electronic media literacy initiative is the key to gas development and productivity. That is why we are trying to bring awareness of the Niger Delta youths to the oil and gas Digital Transformation Initiative timely.
“We are setting up Digital Entrepreneurship Soft-Skills Technology (DESSTECHS) to connect the youths, private, public and organisations to electronic media literacy for effective productivity. DESSTECHS Centre connect you to your sure-plug.
“Nigerians should embrace electronic media literacy for institution productivity, office productivity, business productivity, professionals productivity and oil fields productivity.
“The only way to overcome neo-colonialism or slavery is to embark on an electronic media literacy campaign among the teeming youths so that when you can develop your SURE-PLUG, do your things your own way, the European Union will then see that they need you just as you need them”.