November 2020 Edition

Valedictory Note
NAPE PRESIDENT,
Alex N. Tarka, CPG, FNAPE
Dear Esteemed Colleagues,
I am most delighted and honored to
welcome you to the Conference edition
of the 38th Annual International
Conference & Exhibition (AICE) of your
favourite geosciences news magazine.
The Conference is holding under the
theme, Accelerating Growth in Nigeria's
Hydrocarbon Reserves: Emerging
C o n c e p t s , C h a l l e n g e s a n d
Opportunities.
The year 2020, began with the global
COVID -19 pandemic, and for the first
two quarters of the year, the whole world
contended with the vilest effects of the
scourge. Some respite seemed to appear
in the horizon in the third quarter, not so
much for the fact that the virus was losing
its sting, but for the fact that the world
h a d a d o p t e d v a r i o u s c o p i n g
mechanisms and remediation measures
to keep the pandemic in check. Welcome
to the 'New Normal'.
For the oil and gas industry, the low oil
price regime was another head wind the
industry had to grapple with. Low oil
prices exacerbated by COVID-19 led to
suspension of contracts, job loses, poor
projects funding and sponsorships.
Africa's largest economy commenced
the final quarter by facing some of the
biggest (#ENDSARS) protests witnessed
since military rule ended in 1999. The
cumulative effects of the COVID-19
pandemic lockdowns and other
restrictions triggered a downturn in the
local and global economy.
It was in this gloomy and cheerless socioeconomic
weather, that the Conference
Planning Committee had to plan the 38th
Annual international Conference &
Exhibition.
Countless brainstorming sessions were
held on how to put together an event that
was not going to be a dilution of previous
AICEs taking into cognizance the
imperatives of the COVID-19 protocol on
social distancing as well as travel
restriction and the like.
A decision was taken to go virtual. And for
the first time in the 45-year history of our
Association, we are hosting our AICE on a
virtual platform. I want to commend the
tenacity, creativity and dedication of the
members of the NAPE Executive
Committee and the resilience of the
members of the Conference Planning
Committee, headed by the President-
Elect, Patricia Ochogbu, FNAPE.
The themes for this year's Conference
and Pre- Conference Workshop were
chosen to address some of the
contemporary challenges facing our
NAPENEWS | NOVEMBER 2020 | 05