The International Energy Agency has said that the rising number of countries gradually shifting from fossil fuels and encouraging the adoption of electric vehicles may pose a major threat to Nigeria’s crude oil exports.
Sales of electric cars topped 2.1 million globally in 2019, surpassing 2018 – already a record year – to boost the stock to 7.2 million electric cars, with China leading the charge.
It said nine countries had more than 100,000 electric cars on the road while at least 20 countries reached market shares above one per cent.
“In 2019, electric vehicles in operation globally avoided the consumption of almost 0.6 million barrels of oil products per day,” the IEA said.
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The demand for crude oil is expected to continue to decline following the surging sales in electric vehicles in Asia and Europe.
Carmakers have sold more than 500,000 battery electric cars in Europe during 2020, compared to only 354,000 sold during the whole of last year across the region, a UK newspaper, The Guardian, reported earlier this month.
Europe is the biggest regional export market for Nigeria’s crude oil, followed by Asia. An energy expert, Mr Bala Zakka, reacting to the development said that the shift towards the use of electric vehicles and renewable energy would impact Nigeria’s oil export revenues.
He said, “It was a wrong thing for us, first of all, to export raw material. Organised nations convert their raw material into finished goods. Why can’t we convert our hydrocarbon endowment and start producing petrochemicals?”
