Grace Ashiru
Oando, a prominent energy provider in Africa, has revealed intentions to incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) in its upcoming drilling operations to boost operational efficiency through advanced technology.
Wale Tinubu, Oando’s Group CEO, highlighted that the integration of AI will allow the company to optimize essential resources and enhance performance in its forthcoming projects.
Tinubu shared this insight during an interview with CNBC Africa, held on the sidelines of the recently concluded World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
He explained, “AI is a major game-changer. In our drilling operations, we face decisions with significant cost implications. The ability to consider all possible solutions based on past experiences, by leveraging artificial intelligence to explore a range of possibilities, is crucial. It’s a technology we are excited to implement in our upcoming drilling campaign.”
During the same interview, the CEO revealed that the oil company was collaborating with the Lagos state government to introduce 5,000 electric buses for public transportation within the state.
Tinubu explained that gas would serve as a transitional fuel to generate the electricity required to power the buses, thereby contributing to a reduction in Nigeria’s carbon emissions.
Tinubu explained, “We are using gas as a transitional fuel to produce electricity that will power the buses. Transport accounts for 10% of global emissions, so by addressing public transport, we can potentially reduce emissions by 5% almost immediately. The first step involves transitioning Nigeria’s bus system from diesel or petrol to electric vehicles, starting with a pilot project in collaboration with the Lagos state government, where we aim to deploy up to 5,000 electric buses on our streets.”
He emphasized that this initiative is part of the company’s broader commitment to embracing cleaner energy solutions, aligning with its ‘just’ energy transition efforts and a “carbon capture technique” aimed at supporting global decarbonization goals.
He explained, “For every bit of carbon we contribute to the economy and environment, we are also removing it through carbon capture techniques and ensuring that our clean energy offerings, including e-vehicles, are a significant part of our products and services.”
Tinubu emphasized that the pursuit of global decarbonization must consider Africa’s unique challenges, particularly the fact that 45% of the continent’s population lacks access to electricity or energy products.
The arguments for decarbonisation are as important as the arguments for a just transition, and that transition has to recognise the fact that Africa has 45% of the people who have no access to electricity or energy products so our first step really must be to use what we need, which means that we need to use our gas as part of the energy mix to service the needs of our continent and that we need to do so as a transitional fuel whilst we work with an energy mix,” Tinubu argued.
