1.7bn people have no access to electricity—ExxonMobil

ABUJA: Over 1.7 billion people around the world have no access to electricity, just as demand for energy will rise significantly in the nearest future,    the General Manager, Deep Water Operations, ExxonMobil, Mr. Oladotun Isiaka, has said.

Isiaka, at the launch of the ExxonMobil’s ‘2015 Energy Outlook Series’, in Abuja, disclosed that with the world’s population in excess of seven billion, energy demand will continue to increase as the standard of living improves, adding, “When the standard of living increases, the demand for energy will also increase.

He argued that oil will still sustain the global energy need for the next 100 years, adding that global demand for energy in the next 25 years would be led by countries outside of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, OECD.

According to him, the countries include Nigeria, China, and India, noting that supply glut in the oil sector will continue into the foreseeable future as supply outstrips demand in many countries.

He said: “The franking technology now avails us the opportunity to know it is there. Based on this and the amount of energy we use as at today and what we are projecting, what we use over 25 to 40 years, this tells us that we have 100 years of oil to support energy needs.

“Countries outside the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), including China, India, and Nigeria, would lead global demand for energy in the next 25 years.”

Despite data showing that global reserves have risen to six trillion barrels, Isiaka said this would last for only a hundred years based on today’s energy consumption and projected future demands.

He noted that population increase, improved standard of living and growth in the middle class, especially in India, China and other key growth areas of the world, will continue to drive energy demands.

“Energy demand trends from 2010 to 2040 are expected to vary significantly around the world, as countries move along very different trajectories in terms of key demand drivers including population, demographics, economic growth and income levels,” he maintained

He pointed out however that most of the growth in energy demand would come from countries outside the OECD.

On the world’s oil reserve, he said: “In 1981, it was estimated to be below 2 trillion barrels, then slightly above 2 trillion barrels by 1990, and as of 2013, it was estimated to be six trillion barrels.

“It is not that the oil just got deposited there. It has been there for millions of years, but it is the advancement in technology that has now availed us the opportunity to know it is there and to be able to bring it to the tank.

“Ultimately, what you want is for the oil to go to the tank. And if you do not have the capacity to bring to the tank, then it is going to stay there forever.”

 

Source: Vanguard Business