The Energy Republic July Edition 2022

NOG FEATURES
deficiencies and insecurity to the high cost
of operation, to mention just a few.
“The government is working consciously to
tackle all without lagging on our path to
meeting the global demand that our
signatory to international protocols on
cleaner energy has placed on us.”
The theme of the 2021 edition was,
“Fortifying the Nigerian Oil and Gas
Industry for Economic Stability and
Growth”. Some of the speakers and
panelists said that the country needs to
monetize every resource that is available
today, to create the resource that will
create the future for the country and the oil
industry.
According to the GMD of the NNPC Limited,
Mele Kyari,
“
Oil will help Nigeria
create wealth, while there
is an opportunity for the
country to operate in the
gas space, and the focus
of the NNPC is to deepen
gas monetization for
both domestic and
export.
He noted that the notion that fossil fuels
will fizzle out by 2050 and the world will be
dealing with renewables is not true, adding
that the forecasts of the Organisation of
Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and
other key organizations in the oil industry
have shown that even by 2050, there will
still be a demand of about 100 million
barrels.
While lamenting the lack of investment in
the exploration and production of oil, Kyari
averred that for Nigeria as an energy
resource-dependent country, the oil will
remain relevant to the country beyond
2050.
“For us as a developing country, energy
resource-dependent country, we know for
sure that beyond 2050 that oil will be
relevant for us. Today, we are in a deficit of
infrastructure, power, and so many other
things. There is so much work going on, but
the facts remain that there is a deficit here,”
he said.
Mele Kolo Kyari, Group Managing Director (GMD) of NNPC Limited
“As we all know investment has gone down
30 percent. So, those outcomes will show up
probably in the next 3, 4, and 5 years, when
we realize that the lack of investment of
today will manifest in that practical sense
and in our inability to meet the demand that
is required of the oil and gas industry. This
will happen and before something happens,
there is something we can do as an
industry.”
In his presentation at the technical session
of the conference on "Driving Operational
P r o f i t a b i l i t y T h r o u g h D i g i t a l
Transformation", the General Manager
Sub-Saharan Africa for Schneider Electric
Process Automation, Ajibola Akindele, said
that the current market dynamics have
increased pressure across multiple
dimensions of the oil and gas companies'
businesses. This is in addition to the aging
workforce and the upstream producers
seeking to maximize the production of oil
and gas from onshore and offshore wells
safely and economically, amid increasing
demand, environmental pressures, and
potential security threats.
With all these challenges, he said that the
primary concern of most operating
companies is to ensure safe, reliable, and
compliant operations - while managing
energy costs and minimizing time and
installed costs. He noted that producers in
the upstream market, pipeline operators in
the midstream market, and refineries in the
downstream market can make the right
technology investments while maintaining
global competitiveness through digital
transformation.
A c c o r d i n g t o A k i n d e l e , " D i g i t a l
transformation may be viewed as the
cultural, organizational, and operational
change of an organization, industry or
ecosystem through smart integration of
digital technologies, processes, and
competencies across all levels and functions
in a staged and strategic way.”
Represented by the General Manager –
External Relations, Mrs. Eyono Fatai-
Williams, the former Managing Director of
the Nigeria LNG, Engr. Tony Attah noted that
Train 7 will further the development of the
country’s local capacity and businesses
through 100 percent in-country execution
of construction works, fabrications, and
major procurements.
He encouraged oil and gas service
companies in the country to take advantage
of the enormous opportunities that the
project present, stressing that there will
even be more opportunities with Train 8 and
beyond.
Attah said, “The Train 7 project will further
the development of Nigerian local capacity
and businesses through the 100 percent incountry
execution of construction works,
fabrications, and major procurements. I am
convinced that the Train 7 project will set
the record in Nigerian local content capacity
development for the years to come.
“I, therefore, enjoin all prospective players
and service companies to key into the
various aspect of this project, because the
opportunities are huge and exponential.
There will be opportunities in construction,
cable, and different areas. Riding on the
back of Train 7, the prospects for more
growth with Train 8 and beyond seem bright
as the company’s cores are focused on gas
through the gas agenda.”
The Executive Secretary of the Nigerian
Content Development and Monitoring
Board (NCDMB), Engr. Simbi Wabote said
that the Board has recovered about $100
million of undisputed obligations from the
Third-Party Forensic Audit of
28
Funding The Nigerian
Mix For Sustainable Economic Growth
THE ENERGY REPUBLIC I SPECIAL EDITION