Nigeria Needs Home-grown Solution To Tackle Oil & Gas Industry Challenges – Lokpobiri

The Minister of State Petroleum (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri has tasked stakeholders in the Nigerian oil and gas industry to develop home-grown solutions to the low oil output, and crude oil theft among other issues confronting the industry.

Lokpobiri said this yesterday at the 2023 3rd Biennial International Conference on Hydrocarbon Science & Technology (ICHST).

The minister said Nigeria has been a big player in the oil and gas industry both in Africa and globally, adding that for Nigeria to sustain its place as a major player in the oil and gas sector, industrial players need to update their knowledge and keep up with trends.

Lokpobiri said, “My expectation is for us to come up with our home-grown solution to address our problem in the petroleum industry. You will agree with me that in Nigeria today, we have so many problems developing the oil industry beginning with pipeline vandalisation, oil theft, low productivity and we can’t even meet our OPEC quota.

“As a ministry, our expectation is that all the agencies in the ministry, beginning with PTI to PTDF to NNPCL, to NUPRC to NMDPRA and all parastatals will be able to collaborate going forward to be able to evolve relevant technology that we need to be able to address our local oil production problems; our local gas production problems. Nobody will come here and find solutions to our own problem.”

He charged industry experts to develop solutions to tackle oil theft, and low crude production among others, and not to “copy other people’s work and ideas that are not relevant to solving our problems in the country.”

This is as the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd has said that it will play a leading role in bridging the human capacity needs of the country’s energy sector along with the Petroleum Industry Act.

Director of NNPC Limited Academy, Folashade Adekeye, who spoke on the theme ‘The Future of the Oil and Gas Industry: Opportunities, Challenges and Developments,’ said the NNPC has entered partnerships with reputable institutions organisations and professional bodies to equip players within and outside the industry for the challenges ahead.

Adekeye said, “For us in the NNPC Academy and RTI (Research Technology and Innovation) division, we are excited to be part of the success story as sponsors and partners in this year’s conference which is focussed on the sector’s challenges and opportunities.

“With the passage of the PIA and the need to prepare the workforce in the energy sector, stakeholders, and the public on emerging trends, NNPC Academy is poised to play a leading role in human capacity development.

“We are into partnership with reputable institutions, organisations, and professional bodies in equipping players within and outside the industry for the eventual challenges ahead. Our partnership and collaboration with PTI through ICHST will spur innovation and expansion in the energy sector.

“It will focus on the most recent trends, techniques and legislations influencing the future of the energy sector. It will highlight how the energy sector may transition to a more sustainable energy mix, while balancing environmental and social concerns in the context of the fast-evolving energy landscape.”

The executive secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Simbi Wabote, said in his address that human capital is vital to the successful operation of the oil and gas industry, adding that this is why the industry should focus on local content development.

Wabote said prior to the enactment of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act 210, the country’s oil and gas industry was dominated by skilled manpower headed by expatriates while Nigerians played majorly in the unskilled areas.

He said after the enactment of the Act, there were improvements in the number of skilled Nigerians in the oil and gas industry.