One billion people lack access to electricity worldwide- OPEC By Ikenna Omeje

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has said that almost one billion people worldwide lack access to electricity while three billion are without modern fuel for cooking. OPEC Secretary-General, Mohammed Barkindo stated this at the 2019 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP25. Barkindo who started his speech discussing Yola, the capital of Adamawa State, where he grew up, said that things like keeping lights in houses, insulating homes and access to clean water, which many countries take for granted, remain fundamental needs to the vulnerable in developing countries.

“Mr. President, yours sincerely standing before you, grew up in town called Yola, in Adamawa State, Northeastern part of Nigeria. In this town, Mr. President, that I grew up even today, keeping the lights in our houses; insulating our homes; or accessing clean water - amenities taking for granted by many countries, are beyond the reach of the most vulnerable in our communities. Sadly, Mr. President, this is a situation experienced in many developing countries. There are almost one billion people worldwide, who currently lack access to electricity and three billion without modern fuels for cooking, are not just statistics on a page. They are real people; each one, Mr. President is an individual,” he said. According to him, fuel poverty is a major challenge for sustainable development. He noted that OPEC will not accept energy transition from one source to another,

adding that the organization listens to scientists, supports Paris Agreement and the efforts of multilateralism that underpins it. “Fuel poverty is not an abstract concept, rather it is a profound challenge for sustainable development. It is an all too brutal reality for hungry families living in the cold or dark for the millions of children currently attending schools without power and for many hospitals without reliable energy. Nobody should be left behind by the energy transition. Mr. President, we reject energy transition from one source to another. At OPEC, we listen attentively to scientists, we wholeheartedly support the Paris Agreement and the efforts of multilateralism that underpins it. The core elements of the convention, particularly historical responsibility and national circumstances must be adhered to.We recognize, Mr. President, the complexity and magnitude of climate change. We live it in our countries.” Giving suggestions to some of the solutions to climate change, Barkindo opined that all mitigation and adaptation measures are necessary, noting that technological innovations including Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS), investment for access to energy and energy efficiency should be part of the solutions to climate change.

In his words,”There is no panacea for group global warming. All viable mitigation and adaptation measures a re nece s sa ry. Technological innovations including CCUS, enhance investment for energy access and improved energy efficiency must be

part of the solution. The oil industry, Mr. President, is committed to both. The oil industry must be part of the solution to the impact of climate change. The energy transition must be holistic, inclusive, fair and equitable in accordance with the core UNFCCC Principle of common, but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities.”

The 2019 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP25, is the 25th United Nations Climate Change conference. The conference was held in Madrid, Spain, under the presidency of Sebastián Piñera, President of Chile. The conference, which commenced on December 2, will end on December 13, 2019. The conference incorporates the 25th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the 15th meeting of the parties for the Kyoto Protocol (CMP15), and the second meeting of the parties for the Paris Agreement (CMA2). The conference was planned to be held in Brazil in November 2019, but a year before the planned start, newly-elected President Jair Bolsonaro withdrew the offer to host the event, citing economic reasons.Then Chile stepped up and became the new host, but social unrest in the lead up to the meeting forced it late October 2019 to withdraw from hosting. Then by mutual agreement between the UN, Chile, and Spain, the latter became the new host.

-Barkindo

The Secretary General of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has hinted reporters at the International Petroleum Technology Conference which held in Saudi Arabia on the decision by OPEC and its nonOPEC partners to implement its resolve, taken in Vienna between the 5th and 6th of December 2019, of a timely cut in production by 900,000 barrels daily in order to balance the global oil market.

This production cut consists of an additional production adjustment of 500,000bpd by partners to the Declaration of Co-operation, which now brings total production cut to 1.7 million bpd, plus an additional over conformity by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia which voluntarily cut 400,000 bpd of its production.

According to the OPEC boss, that puts the sum total of overall production cut at 2.1 million bpd. “We are confident this will keep the market in check and maintain stability in the crude oil market through the first and second quarters of 2020”, he said.

He added, “the decision which was taken in Vienna on the 5th and 6th of December during the OPEC and Non OPEC combined meeting has just kicked in. It’s basically on the full and timely implementation of an additional production adjustment of 500,000 bpd. This is further increased by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s over conformity, which willingly added 400,000bpd in production cut”. Earlier, Saudi Arabian Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman had said his country will do “all it can” to ensure stability in the oil market amid tensions in

the Middle East.

Oil prices soared last week after Iran carried out retaliatory strikes on American bases in Iraq in response to Washington’s killing of its top General Qassem Soleimani. However, crude has since dropped as fears of an armed conflict in the Middle East faded after Iran said its revenge was complete and United States President Donald Trump announced he is “ready to embrace peace.”

Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister said that OPEC and its allies remain focused on using production cuts to reduce oil inventories to normal levels, undeterred by the flare up of political tensions in the Middle East.

Oil prices have erased all of this year’s rally, which saw Brent crude surge to a three-month high of almost $72 a barrel as Washington and Tehran faced off after the U.S. assassination of a top Iranian general. Crude retreated again as the countries backed away from full-blown conflict, while supplies remain comfortable. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Counties and its allies, which pump about half the world’s oil, thus remain resolved to press on with output cuts aimed at draining away any excess stockpiles, Saudi Energy Minister Abdulaziz bin Salman said in a Bloomberg television interview on Monday. “Our endeavor in OPEC+ is to try to bring inventories to a certain level, where it is within the contours” of recent years, bin Salman said in Dammam. That range should be around the average of the last five years and the period from 2010 to 2014, he said.

Bin Salman said he was “very comfortable” with the implementation of production cuts by OPEC+ nations in December, the final month before the alliance is due to implement even deeper curbs. Iraq, which has long been lax in its performance, didn’t meet its target last month but made a “reasonable” effort, he said. He declined to say what the alliance may decide in March, when the current cutbacks are scheduled to end and they will have to decide whether to prolong them.

In the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway through which tankers carry Persian Gulf oil to international markets, concerns over a threat to shipping because of the friction between Washington and Tehran only lasted about 24 hours, he said. The kingdom is “doing everything in the book” to safeguard its oil production facilities, he added.