The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mallam Mele Kyari, has called on oil and gas professionals in the Country to embrace the culture of innovation and technology towards transforming the Industry and by extension improving the nation’s economy.
Mallam Kyari made the call while delivering a keynote address at the 37th National Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE) Conference & Exhibition in Lagos Tuesday.
Speaking on the theme Enabling Nigeria’s Petroleum Landscape: Digitalisation, Innovation & Emerging Technologies”, Kyari said for the Industry to be transformed, professionals in the sector must collaborate and make digitalization a priority, invest in human capital development programmes, optimize the use of Industry data platforms as well as invest in the oil and gas collaborative ecosystem.
According to the GMD, NNPC was committed to leading the change in transforming the sector through various initiatives and partnerships in the roadmap to becoming an integrated energy corporation delivering value to its various shareholders.
“As part of our current strategy, NNPC will strive to grow our reserves, increase oil production, rehabilitate the refineries, ensure availability of petroleum products and attain net exporter status,” the GMD stated.
According to the NNPC helmsman, the Industry must urgently take advantage of the opportunities derived from big data digitalization and emerging new technologies in the course of its operations.
The GMD, who described the recent amendment made to the nation’s Deep Offshore Act (DoA) as long overdue, said there was nothing to worry about by any stakeholder in the Industry.
He maintained that Nigeria remained a viable option for investors as the success rate for finding oil are very high, especially in the Niger Delta region.
He called on Industry stakeholders to support the government towards the passage of the Petroleum Industry legislation which he described as necessary for stable and sustainable investment thrive.
He said with the reality of reserves depletion in the country, there was the need for NAPE to galvanize Industry leaders and partners to embrace exploration for more oil and gas reserves and for the members to deploy their abilities to ensure successful campaigns.
He observed that following the recent significant oil discovery in the Kolmani area of the upper Benue trough by the NNPC, the corporation sees higher prospects in other frontier basins based on current understanding.
“It is instructive to highlight that our exploits and successes in the Upper Benue trough were achieved through the deployment of the most recent techniques and technologies and the efforts of our in-house geoscientist and other petroleum experts,” Kyari added.
He said right from its inception in 1977 to date, NNPC had continued to transform its business and organizational perspectives to align with changing business realities through strategic partnerships with various stakeholders across the entire business value chain.
Earlier in his address, NAPE President, Ajibola Oyebamiji, commended NNPC for its success in oil exploration in the Gongola basin, a development which he said had challenged exploration professionals in the Country to work harder towards contributing their quota in the quest to grow the nation’s reserves.
He also called for the speedy passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill to enable clear roles for all stakeholders, attract investment and make businesses thrive.
“Our reserves and production targets will be very difficult to meet when such enabling policies are not in place,” Oyebamiji added.