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MINISTER of State for Energy (Petroleum), Odein Ajumogobia has advocated the development and use of cleaner fossil fuel technology by Nigerias oil and gas industry.

``One of such technologies is carbon capture and storage, a mature technology and, perhaps, the single best means of reducing carbon dioxide emissions, he said in Abuja.

Ajumogobia said this at the opening of the two-day NNPC Working Group Inauguration Workshop on ``Developing Cleaner Development Mechanism (CDM)

Projects.

The minister delivered a paper: ``The Climatic Change Debate: An Oil Producing and Exporting Countries (OPEC) perspective, at the workshop.

The CDM is a project-based activity designed for the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol by developed and developing countries on the reduction of global emissions of greenhouse gases.

The minister said that OPEC viewed the world as a global village and was convinced that the earths climate was increasingly becoming warmer. He said that OPEC member countries solely relied on revenues generated from exports of hydrocarbons for their national socio-economic livelihood.

Ajumogobia, however, noted that the exported commodities were usually subjected to the vagaries of international markets. He said that forces of the global markets dictated the revenues generated from the exports, with its attendant challenges on the struggling economies.

The minister, nonetheless, stressed that fossil fuels would, in the nearest future, continue to play a dominant role in the energy mix. Ajumogobia emphasised the need for Nigerias oil and gas industry to seriously get involved in CDM activities.

He said that such efforts would not only annex the economic values of turning waste, in terms of gas flares, into wealth, but also to eliminate atmospheric pollution arising from gas flaring.

He said that as an OPEC country, Nigeria would continuously raise the level of awareness of policy makers and industry practitioners on the impact of climate change on all sectors of the economy, including the petroleum sector.

``We need to undertake systemic observations and research activities with respect to inventory of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere. We need to assess more comprehensively our countrys vulnerability to the impact of climate change and design appropriate adaptation strategies to reduce the impact.

``We also acknowledge the interrelationships between energy production and consumption, environmental protection and preservation, as well as, economic growth and social development, Ajumogobia said.

The minister, nonetheless, stressed the need for countries of the world to reduce their emission of greenhouse gases, in line with the principles of the Kyoto Protocol.

In his address, the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Mr Abubakar YarAdua, said that the workshop was organised to sensitise the corporations Joint Venture

(JV) partners to the benefits on CDM activities.

He said that the workshop would fashion out some recommendations on how NNPC, its JV partners, government and private establishments could contribute to the success of the CDM programme.

YarAdua said that Federal Government would also utilise the CDM as a policy tool for sustainable development and the realisation of its Vision 2020 development agenda. He said that Africa had yet to benefit from the projects funded under the CDM programme of the Kyoto Protocol on Global Warming.

``Africa has just 53 out of 3,902 CDM projects worldwide. This is equivalent to only 1.4 per cent and relative to the region, this is about nine times smaller than its share of global carbon dioxide emissions.

``So far, Nigeria has only one registered project. I employ the participants and discussants to ensure that all the envisaged projects would be plausible and feasible, YarAdua said.

The GMD expressed the optimism that the CDM capacity building effort would bring about the much-needed awareness, while exposing the existing opportunities for government and the oil industry.