By Adewale Sanyaolu
Nigerian firms operating in the oil and gas industry are set to own about 70 per cent of onshore oil assets in few years, the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN) has affirmed.
Chairman of PETAN, Mr. Wole Ogunsanya, gave the assurance when he led members of his team on a courtesy visit to the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Mr. Mele Kyari, at the NNPC Towers in Abuja on Monday.
At the moment, most onshore assets are controlled by International Oil Companies (IOCs) but the menace of oil theft, insecurity among other industry challenges have left them with no option to exit the terrain and divest their assets.
“In the next few years, nearly 70 per cent of onshore assets will be owned by Nigerians and PETAN has the strategy to maximise the footprints from these assets through a well articulated model that will allow us to master the value chain of exploration, production, midstream and downstream. The model project will start small within 5,000 -10,000 Bopd using our cost-saving technology whilst saving cost and then upscale to support NNPCL and other onshore asset owners,” Ogunsanya said.
He assured further that PETAN will demystify the cost of oil and gas production in Nigeria.
“Our cost of production compared to many countries is too high and at PETAN, we feel that we have the responsibility to bridge the gap of production cost and sales cost through collaboration with the government, the regulators and the NNPC Limited,” he said.
Speaking further, he said that all hands must be on deck with the presidential mandate to revamp the economy through increased oil production. Ogunsanya pledged PETAN’s capacity on the local content journey to ramp up oil and gas production for the country at a reduced cost.
“We have the equipment, the services and the capacities across the value chain – finding the well, bringing the oil and gas to the surface and early production facility services. We have the capacity for EPCI, oil and gas processing and so forth to bridge any gap on assets management.
“On OTC, we are partnering the NUPRC to develop a road show model on attracting potential bidders for deep water assets and we also have an African collaboration session as part of our OTC programme to chart pathways on this as well,” he said.
Addressing the team virtually, Kyari, regretted his inability to physically receive the PETAN but expressed delight that the organisation remains a partner in the industry despite the critical changes that its undergoing.
especially in respect to ramping up production.
“We have a very determined President who makes procurement easier. Fiscal systems have been improved tremendously, as well as midstream and upstream development all of which create alot of opportunities which we need to collaborate to deliver.
Whilst thanking the team for strengthening ties, he added:”On OTC, we will continue to work with you so that our participation becomes robust and meaningful and to get value, opportunities and investments back in-country,”.
Executive Vice President, Upstream, NNPC Limited, Mrs Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, who physically received the PETAN team on behalf of the GCEO, equally noted that it was gratifying to hear the aspirations of PETAN, which aligns with the Federal Government’s and by extension the NNPC’s.
“From our humble beginnings, we thought that the industry would morph into something much larger, but today, we are starting new beginnings with a good number of divestments that are about to be concluded, presenting opportunities in the industry and are to be run by Nigerians for Nigerians necessitating a stronger synergy between the new operators and PETAN as technical oilfield services providers,’’.