. Says PIA will enhance success of Nigeria’s bid round
By Clara Nwachukwu
The Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN) has expressed commitment to partnering with varied stakeholders in the energy sector for sustainable economic development.
The Chairman of PETAN, Wole Ogunsanya, disclosed this to journalists at the just concluded Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston, Texas U.S.
Such collaborations cut across the oil and gas industry at both the national and sub-national levels as well as academia.
He said PETAN is dedicated to sustaining and growing the energy sector in Nigeria, as well as strengthening partnerships to ensure safe, reliable, and efficient operations in the country.
“As we engage all the relevant stakeholders in the oil and gas sector, we want to assure them that our members with decades of experience in the industry, have all the equipment required to boost oil production in the country.”
Speaking on the Road show by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Mr. Ogunsanya expressed optimism that the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) will enhance the success of the 2024 oil bidding round.
He said the PIA is a comprehensive legislation, designed to bring about restructuring, streamlining, transparency, and accountability in the oil and gas sector, and will guarantee investors’ confidence and participation by making the investment process more straightforward.
Recall that the Commission Chief Executive, Gbenga Komolafe, had unveiled 17 blocks in the kitty for sale local and international during the conference.
These include 12 petroleum prospecting leases (PPLs) 300, 301, 3008, 3009, 2000, 2001, 267, 268, 269, 270, 271; petroleum mining lease (PML) 51; and the deep offshore blocks, PPLs 300, 301, 302, 303, 304, 305 and 306.
Continuing, the PETAN boss said: “We are seeing the good work that NUPRC is doing. The bid round will be successful. We are talking about big oil fields.
“These are deep water assets where billions of dollars will be spent. Of course, NUPRC will ensure that we attract the right investors.
“Some investors are already operating in Nigeria while others will come from outside the country. All we need to do is to present the assets to them.”
As we engage all the relevant stakeholders in the oil and gas sector, we want to assure them that our members with decades of experience in the industry, have all the equipment required to boost oil production in the country.
Enabling environment
Mr. Ogunsanya also noted that creating an environment that encourages investment not only benefits the industry but also ensures broader macroeconomic implications.
He said the revenue generated from these investments could be channelled to developing other sectors of the economy, especially critical infrastructure like power to improve the quality of life for Nigerians.
“The government is charging a reasonable signature bonus. This will enable investors to inject more resources into funding their capital projects, produce commercial oil and gas, and impact Nigeria’s economy.
“All of our executive members are determined to make sure the bidding round is successful.
“We used to have meetings till late at night, back home in Nigeria. We made sure we covered all the aspects of the OTC. A lot of oil was burned in the background. A lot of very smart chief executives did their best. Many of them have been doing these for 30 years and their companies, are successful.
“All of my executive members from top to bottom, I trust every one of them that whatever assignment that we have for them is going to be done.”
“Let me give you an example. For the NUPRC roadshow, we supported NUPRC in Miami, it was led by one of the executives of PETAN because I have some other assignments. The roadshow in London will be led by Dr. Lola Amao. PETAN is doing a lot, not only with the federal government, but also with state governments.
“A lot of people are looking for jobs. We have hundreds of universities and engineering schools. It is good to start from somewhere. Some of us that started our business over 20 or 30 years ago are at the same level as any multinationals anywhere in the world. But it takes time to build the right capacity.
“This exercise is under the exclusive responsibility of NUPRC. We have confidence in NUPRC’s leadership that they will do the right thing. Our role is to support as the foremost professional organization in Nigeria.
“We are bringing experts to the industry. We are also showing them that the assets are promising. In Nigeria, we have all the services that are required to bring the oil out of the ground. That explains why we are bringing our partners to Nigeria.”
OTC theme
Commenting on the theme for the OTC, he said: “We did a lot of consultations, meetings, checking end-to-end. One of the biggest things we did as soon as we were sworn in was to meet the leadership of the industry.
“Of course, we started with the ministers. We went all the way to the chief commission executive at NUPRC. We met with the NCDMD executive secretary. We met with the group CEO of NNPC Ltd.
“We even consulted with the special advisor of petroleum to the president. We need to let them understand what PETAN can bring forward and when we did that, we were able to get a lot of feedback.
“We did all those consultations, introducing executives to all key stakeholders. It does make a lot of things easier, and we saw the enthusiasm in the leadership of the industry.
“NNPC gave us a mandate to organize everything. In fact, they are the owners of OTC. PETAN is supporting to make that happen. They are the first to step forward and do what needs to be done.
“Of course, the minister was very enthusiastic when we met with him. He assured us he would participate in all of our programmes. The Commission Chief Executive also supported us, as the NUPRC is planning a roadshow on the new assets.
“We have about 37 billion barrels of oil reserves. There is a lot more on the ground, especially in the deep offshore. By selling the assets, we look forward to increasing our reserves and production capacity. This will allow OPEC to permit us to produce more.
“We are taking that programme to Miami next week. We are also taking it to London. In the end, what we are doing will impact Nigeria’s economy and improve the life of our people.
“We had a fantastic opening ceremony from all the remarks and media reports. The panel sessions were fantastic, especially in terms of impacting the Nigerian oil and gas industry. Other programmes were also well planned and executed. I think we have done well.
