Petroleum Fund, Sokoto Varsity Collaborate On Oil, Gas Technology Research

The Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) has commenced collaboration with the Usmanu Danfodio University Sokoto (UDUS) and others to boost research on sustainable oil and gas operations for industrial growth.

The general manager, PTDF Research and Innovation, Mr Olayinka Agboola, stated this yesterday in Sokoto at the three-day capacity-building workshop, as part of the fund’s effort to expand human capacity development on petroleum and gas sector.

The training was in collaboration with the PTDF Professorial Chair in Petroleum Chemistry in the Department of Energy and Applied Chemistry with the Center for Advancement Science Research and Analytical Services, CASRAS, in UDUS.

Agboola, who was represented by Dr Neeka Jacob, said the Fund has consistently carried out its mandate through several programmes in institutions.

He said areas included, Endowment research; Grant research and Scholarly research for over twenty years adding that some of the researches have been patented while others are being processed for patent acquisition.

”There are novel and recent researches and innovations that are quite outstanding and need to be expanded for the needed collaboration with UDUS.

”These researches, innovations and Technologies are currently expected to be deployed on commercial scale to solve problems and create jobs thereby enhancing the economy of Nigeria while improving the standard of living,” he said.

PTDF Head of Legal and Secretariat Services, Mr Nuruhuda Darma, said the partnership would  foster stronger linkages between academia, industry, and government, creating an ecosystem where research is not only encouraged but effectively translated into real-world solutions.

Darma assured more PTDF support to the acquisition, transfer, and commercialization of critical technologies, reinforcing Nigeria’s position as a leader in energy innovation and sustainable development.

Professor Aminu Bayawa, the PTDF Professorial Chair in Petroleum Chemistry in UDUS, said the training was focused on Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometric (GS- MS) technology to harness best management and community empowerment.

“This initiative is designed to equip scholars with skills of introduced tools that improve productivity while reducing health and environmental risks associated with higher and small-scale researches,” he said.

Bayawa further appealed to the government to pay attention to scientist, researchers and scholars at large as well as actualisation of research activities to reduce the bureaucracy in the sector.

He said 260 applications were received for the training, however, 30 scholars from 22 institutions scaled through and expressed optimism that it would enhance scholars capacity on handling modern tools to enhance community practice toward achieving desired results.

He explained that GC-MS is a core analytical tool used to separate, identify, and quantify hydrocarbons and chemical additives in complex petroleum matrices.

According to him, “It combines the high-resolution separation of gas chromatography, GC, with the molecular identification power of mass spectrometry, MS.”