By Teddy Nwanunobi
Jake Riley has urged the Federal Government, federal lawmakers and the nation’s oil and gas regulators to seize opportunities from the just concluded two-day Nigeria Oil and Gas Opportunity Fair (NOGOF 2021), and implement deliberations from the biennial event.
More importantly, the event organisers have urged the Nigeria make the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) a dream come true, and boost industry players’ confidence “without fear of sudden interruptions.”
Managing Director of Jake Riley, Mrs. Funmi Ogbue, made the appeal, after the virtual third edition of NOGOF 2021.
She urged the state actors, investors, operators, and service companies alike not to exit the two-day deliberations like another talk show, but to take advantage of the identified opportunities from the Fair.
“We must deliberately move away from the regular practice of gathering to recite our national issues without a clear path forward. Thankfully, that has not been the scenario with NOGOF. Anyone can pick up the previous compendiums from the last two editions of NOGOF to do a comparison with actual realities. The same is true of this year’s compendium of opportunities which will also be published soon.
“Along with the communique, these documents form a compass for the industry, and we follow them religiously in order to plan, collaborate and build capacity towards keeping the industry spend in-country.
“However, I’m appealing to the representatives of government who participated and committed to driving implementation of key policies and legislation. We need the PIB now more than ever before. The prolonged period of uncertainty is dampening the enthusiasm of prospective investors with interests in Nigeria.
“It is true that the contracting cycle is being reduced from what it used to be by service level agreements (SLAs), but we need specific enabling laws that will cement these policies, and give industry players the confidence of operating in a very competitive environment without fear of sudden interruptions.
“It can’t be business as usual to see Nigeria attract a paltry five per cent of investment inflows into Africa as registered for the period between 2015 and 2019,” Ogbue said.
Among several topical issues, some operators and service companies pointed to the opportunities in collocating projects and joint ownership of pipelines and other assets.
“From economies of scale to judicious use of scarce resources and available facilities, even down to industrialisation of areas and zones, there were submissions from panelists around benefits of collaboration.
“Also, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) condensate refinery programme, targeting continuous supply of feedstock to mini refineries is expected to gain traction in the coming months with the premium motor spirit (PMS) and DPK in view as end products.
“Previous NOGOF had highlighted the potential with modular refineries and the intervening plans by NCDMB. Today, the reality is that modular refineries are springing up in different parts of the country. This has broken the jinx that held 40 out of the 44 active licensees back as of 2018 from translating their licenses into actual projects,” she said.
Ogbue used the opportunity to appreciate the Executive Secretary of NCDMB for the opportunity granted Jake Riley to organise the event.
She also thanked the opportunity presenters, sponsors, panelists, media partners and her team at Jake Riley.
“I’m grateful to the opportunity presenters and to the panelists at the technical sessions who made out time to perfect the use of the novel virtual platform through several dry runs. Thanks to our amiable ES, the DME and his team, and special thanks to the opportunity presenters and sponsors. This would not have been possible without them.
“Not forgetting our media friends and my own team at Jake Riley for the sleepless nights. Thank you everyone!” she added.
Valuechain reports that Jake Riley is the event consulting firm that organised NOGOF 2021.
NOGOF 2021 is the third edition of the biennial, which was launched in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State in 2017, had as its theme: ‘Leveraging opportunities & Synergies for Post-pandemic Recovery of the Nigerian Oil & Gas Industry’.
NOGOF2021, which held virtually on 25-26 of May, registered an attendance of about 900 delegates at peak times.
It had 22 presenters who identified opportunities with existing and coming projects, ranging from possibilities for collaboration with investors towards FID, through FEED, civil works, drilling, work over, ramping up production and evacuating drilled oil and gas, indigenous and international companies pointed to possible project deals in the upstream sector worth billions of dollars.