Oando, a leading energy provider in Africa, has hinted at plans to deploy artificial intelligence (AI) in its next drilling exercise. The company wants to enhance operational efficiency through technology.
Oando’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Wale Tinubu, noted that by adopting AI, the firm will optimise critical resources while improving overall performance in upcoming projects
Tinubu disclosed this in an interview with CNBC Africa, on the sidelines of the just concluded World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
He said, “It (AI) is a big game-changer. For example, in our drilling operations, we have to make serious decisions which have a high impact on cost. And being able to throw in all the potential answers to our questions based on old experiences, by having a whole sequence of possibilities which can be taken through artificial intelligence. So, it is something we are looking forward to deploying in our next drilling campaign.”
In the same interview, the CEO said that the oil firm was partnering with the Lagos state government to deploy 5,000 electric buses for public transportation in the state.
According to Tinubu, gas will be used as a transit transitional fuel to produce the electricity needed to power the buses, effectively reducing Nigeria’s carbon emissions.
“We are using gas as a transitional fuel to create electricity to generate the power to power buses. Transport is 10% of global emissions so if we tackle public transport we would be able to reduce emissions by 5% almost immediately,” Tinubu said. “The first step we’re doing now is also working on a public system of being able to transit the bus system in Nigeria from diesel or petrol to electric vehicles starting with a project which we’re working on with the Lagos state government as a pilot case where we expect to see up to 5,000 buses, e-buses being deployed in our streets.”
He noted that the move was part of the company’s broader commitment to adopting cleaner energy solutions in line with its ‘just’ energy transition drive and a “carbon capture technique” designed to contribute to global decarbonisation campaigns.
“For every modicum of carbon we put into the economy, into the world and the environment, we are also taking that out by ensuring that we have carbon capture techniques as well as ensuring that our clean energy offering to as part of our products and services is high so we’re focusing a lot on e-vehicles,” he explained.

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Tinubu stressed that efforts to achieve global decarbonisation must be balanced with the unique challenges faced by Africa, which is home to 45% of the world’s population without 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.