PIA will enhance success of Nigeria’s bidding round —- PETAN
By Yunus Yusuf
The Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN) has predicted that the nation’s Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) will enhance the success of the 2024 oil bidding round.
Mr Wole Ogunsanya, the Chairman of PETAN, disclosed this at the just concluded Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston, Texas U.S.
The Business Intelligence (TBI Africa) reports that Mr Gbenga Komolafe, Commission Chief Executive, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), had said Nigeria would be placing 19 blocks.
These include 12 Petroleum Prospecting Leases, PPLs 300, 301, 3008, 3009, 2000, 2001, 267, 268, 269, 270, 271 and Petroleum Mining Lease, PML 51, and the Deep Offshore Blocs, PPLs 300, 301, 302, 303, 304, 305 and 306 before the local and international buyers for purchase.
Ogunsanya said that the PIA is a comprehensive legislation, designed to bring about restructuring, streamlining, transparency, and accountability in the oil and gas sector.
The PETAN chairman said that PIA facilitates investors’ confidence and participation by making the investment process more straightforward.
According to him, it also offers clear returns on investments.
“We are seeing the good work that NUPRC is doing. The bid round will be successful. We are talking about big oil fields.
“These are deep water assets where billions of dollars will be spent. Of course, NUPRC will ensure that we attract the right investors.
“Some investors are already operating in Nigeria while others will come from outside the country. All we need to do is to present the assets to them,” he said.
Ogunsanya noted that creating an environment that encourages investment not only benefits the industry but also ensures broader macroeconomic implications.
He explained that the revenue generated from these investments could be channelled into developing other sectors of the economy.
The PETAN boss highlighted such investment to include critical infrastructure like power assets, which would help to improve the quality of life for Nigerians.
“The government is charging a reasonable signature bonus.
“This will enable investors to inject more resources into funding their capital projects, produce commercial oil and gas, and impact Nigeria’s economy,” he added.
Ogunsanya expressed the commitment of the association and members to enhancing the bidding round.
He said, “All of our executive members are determined to make sure the bidding round is successful.
“We used to have meetings till late at night, back home in Nigeria. We made sure we covered all the aspects of the OTC.
“A lot of oil was burned in the background. A lot of very smart chief executives did their best.
“Many of them have been doing these for 30 years and their companies, are successful.
“All of my executive members from top to bottom, I trust every one of them that whatever assignment that we have for them is going to be done.”
“Let me give you an example. The roadshow we are supporting in NUPRC in Miami will be led by one of the executives of PETAN because I have some other assignments. The roadshow in London will be led by Dr. Lola Amau, a lady that I will support. PETAN is doing a lot, not only with the federal government, but also with state governments.
“A lot of people are looking for jobs. We have hundreds of universities and engineering schools. It is good to start from somewhere. Some of us that started our business over 20 or 30 years ago are at the same level as any multinationals anywhere in the world. But it takes time to build the right capacity.”
He also said: “This exercise is under the exclusive responsibility of NUPRC. We have confidence in NUPRC’s leadership that they will do the right thing. Our role is to support as the foremost professional organization in Nigeria.
“We are bringing experts to the industry. We are also showing them that the assets are promising. In Nigeria, we have all the services that are required to bring the oil out of the ground. That explains why we are bringing our partners to Nigeria.”
Commenting on the OTC, he said: “We did a lot of consultations, meetings, checking end-to-end. One of the biggest things we did as soon as we were sworn in was to meet the leadership of the industry. Of course, we started with the ministers. We went all the way to the chief commission executive at NUPRC. We met with the NCDMD executive secretary. We met with the group CEO of NNPC Ltd.
“We even consulted with the special advisor of petroleum to the president. We need to let them understand what PETAN can bring forward and when we did that, we were able to get a lot of feedback. We did all that consultations, introducing executives to all key stakeholders. It does make a lot of things easier and we saw the enthusiasm in the leadership of the industry.
“NNPC gave us a mandate to organize everything. In fact, they are the owners of OTC. PETAN is supporting to make that happen. They are the first to step forward and do what needs to be done. Of course, the minister was very enthusiastic when we met with him. He guaranteed us he would participate in all of our programs. The chief commission executive also supported us. The NUPRC is planning a roadshow on the new assets.”
He said: “We have about 37 billion barrels of oil reserves. There is a lot more on the ground, especially in the deep offshore. By selling the assets, we look forward to increasing our reserves and production capacity. This will allow OPEC to permit us to produce more.
“We are taking that program to Miami next week. We are also taking it to London. At the end, what we are doing will impact Nigeria’s economy and improve the life of our people.
“We had a fantastic opening ceremony from all the remarks and media reports. The panel sessions were fantastic, especially in terms of impacting the Nigerian oil and gas industry. Other programmes were also well planned and executed. I think we have done well.
“Probably there were a few hiccups, including the location of some of Nigerian exhibitors in the different sections. PETAN will correct this in 2025. Different countries were located in different sections. These included Brazil, United Kingdom and Korea.
“The only companies that can be different are mostly the Americans and the multinationals. For us in Nigeria, next year, the intention is to have all of us in one pavilion. I predict that next year, OTC will even be bigger than this.
“We have good plans. I feel very strongly that some of them will be happening because every party involved is on the same page. All of us realize this team has to be done to help our country.
“We are all willing to work. As far as PETAN is concerned, we are the Julius Berger of Nigeria’s oil and gas industry. We will help build the world, build the facilities, get the oil and gas to flow. That is our job.”
