Yemisi Izuora
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has proposed collaboration among African countries in the area of oil and gas infrastructure in order to remain competitive on the global stage.
Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Dr. Maikanti Baru, made the call at the opening ceremony of the second edition of the Nigerian International Petroleum Summit (NIPS) in Abuja.
In a goodwill message at the summit, the NNPC helmsman said cross-nation collaboration among oil producing countries in Africa was essential to convert the challenges in the oil and gas sectors of individual countries to opportunities for the economic growth.
He listed other areas of possible collaboration to include legal and regulatory framework, noting that synergy in these areas could enhance the abundant opportunities inherent in the new oil and gas discoveries across many countries in Africa.
According to the GMD, the huge opportunities in the African oil and gas industry would not be fully tapped if African countries fail to address critical issues of lack of infrastructure, legal and regulatory impediments, and transparency issues.
Citing the proposed Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline as an example of the type of infrastructural collaboration needed across, Dr. Baru disclosed that the project would traverse at least fifteen (15) West-African countries with intake and offtake points in the various countries before it links with the existing Maghreb-Europe Gas Pipeline in northern Morocco.
“The feasibility study has been concluded and the pre-FEED (Front End Engineering Design) optimisation study is currently ongoing. While this pipeline will help in electrification and industrialisation of these countries, it will also meet the needs of European consumers for heating”, Dr. Baru disclosed.
He described NIPS as a veritable platform to help galvanize Africa’s response to global oil and gas challenges, stressing that it is the melting pot to meet, discuss and share ideas on how to move, not just the Nigerian oil and gas industry, but also the economies of the various countries in the continent forward.
He said NNPC shares in his vision for NIPS to be the premier African Petroleum Technology and Business Conference and the largest gathering of oil and gas professionals in the continent.
On his part, the Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, who also represented President Muhammadu Buhari, said the time has come for players in the oil and gas industry to “think Africa, think collaboration and think the future”.
The theme for this year’s summit is, “Shaping the Future through Efficiency and Innovation”, with a sub-theme for the first day as: “Africa on the Global Stage: International Collaboration, Opportunities and the Future”.
NIPS 2019 attracted participants from members of African Petroleum Producers Organization (APPO), Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) and Oil Producers Trade Section (OPTS) of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industries (LCCI), amongst others.