Yemisi Izuora
Aiteo oil and gas firm has challenged government on the need to make more commitment that will drive investment in the oil and gas industry as Nigeria has the potentials of realizing its 3 million barrels daily production and 40 billion crude reserves aspirations.
Speaking on Monday at Nigeria International Petroleum Summit, NIPS 2020, GMD, Aiteo Eastern E&P Company Limited, Mr. Victor Okoronkwo, said that given the diverse applications of hydrocarbon and hydrocarbon derivatives in support of human civilization and industrialization, fossils will continue to play a dominant role in the global energy mix in the foreseeable future.
Okoronkwo said there is a still window of opportunity for the Nigeria to realize its Hydrocarbon objectives of 3MMbbl/d production and 40Billion bbls of Reserves by 2025.
He said that Aiteo E&P is poised and is working assiduously towards significant contribution to this goal, adding that with the continued reliance and high demand for oil and gas, prices for these commodities will remain exposed to geopolitical events, climate considerations, and in this age of disruptions, black swan events like the Sept 2019 bombing of the Saudi oil facilities and the current coronavirus outbreak still poses challenges to the industry.
“The imperatives for success will therefore be predicated on amongst other factors, creating a stable operating environment as well as establishing robust regulatory and fiscal frameworks. Key energy industry reforms will be critical in boosting investor confidence and attracting otherwise elusive investments into Nigeria.
“To put our current reality into perspective, in 2018 while the Foreign Direct Investment to Africa rose 11 per cent to $46 billion, the FDI to Nigeria shrunk 43 per cent to $2 billion whilst Ghana received $3 billion (ref. world investment report 2019).
This is in contrast to the vast hydrocarbon resource base Nigeria is blessed with (largest oil and gas reserves in Africa).” he said.
According to him, Aiteo Eastern Exploration and Production Company Ltd (Aiteo E&P) started up as an Special Purpose Vehicle, SPV to participate in International Oil Company, IOC asset divestment exercise of 2014 and emerged the winner of the competitive bid for 45 per cent private stake held by Shell (30%), TOTAL (10%) and AGIP (5%) in OML 29 and the Nembe Creek Trunk Line (NCTL) under the NNPC-SPDC Joint Venture.
By virtue of this successful acquisition, Aiteo E&P is the operator of the NNP-Aiteo Joint Venture.
OML 29, located in the swamp of the Niger Delta has 6 flow stations and 4 Associated Gas Gathering Compressors Stations.
The Nembe Creek Trunk Line is a strategic national oil delivery infrastructure transporting crude from 6 producers to the Bonny Crude Oil Terminal.
Okoronkwo said, “We cannot overemphasize the pivotal role oil and gas play in the Nigerian economy contributing an estimated 56.8 per cent of National revenue (ref. CBN Quarterly Economic Report Average: Q4 2017-Q3 2019) and about 88 per cent of foreign exchange earnings (ref. KPMG Industry Insight report April, 2019).
Nigeria is therefore not isolated from the current wave of global energy transition. The energy transition has largely been driven by three key factors namely Environmental, Technological advancements and National Policy Realignments. Climate change is a serious issue that has gained ascendance in shaping global policy discussions with respect to actualizing less carbon intensive scenarios.”
