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By Adewale Sanyaolu
The Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE) has called on the federal government to facilitate the seamless exit of International Oil Companies (IOCs) from onshore operations while encouraging and redirecting their focus towards exploring and developing Nigeria’s deep offshore potential.
The body’s call is contained in a communiqué detailing some far-reaching industry recommendations released at the 31st Pre-Conference Workshop of NAPE with the theme “Leveraging Divestments and Local Content Capacity to Enhance Nigeria’s Oil and Gas Industry: Challenges and Opportunities” held in Lagos recently.
“Part of the recommendations included the need for Government to undertake a comprehensive audit of exiting IOCs to identify potential challenges to be faced by indigenous companies and develop strategic mitigation strategies to foster resilience and competitiveness.
E&P companies should streamline operations to optimize production costs and improve operational efficiency in their production processes.
E&P and service companies should prioritize recruiting graduate trainees and highly skilled professionals to facilitate deliberate knowledge transfer to drive sustainable quality delivery of projects. E&P companies should develop flexible operational frameworks and multiple paths to market while conducting a comprehensive review of the regulatory framework architecture to streamline processes, tailoring regulations to company size, and boosting aggregate production across all operators,” the communiqué stated.
It added that regulatory effectiveness should be assessed using key performance indicators (KPIs), such as production volume, safety metrics, and timelines, with a focus on enhancing production within shorter time frames and minimizing undue delays and business constraints.
The association called on Government to create a specialised loan scheme offering single-digit interest rate loans for indigenous E&P companies.
The association posited that the review will align regulatory laws and enforcement with Nigeria’s production goals while ensuring a safe and efficient operating environment.
On industry challenges, NAPE highlighted financial constraints and weak corporate governance as the bane of underinvestment in Nigeria’s indigenous oil and gas companies.
It further lamented that Nigeria’s long contracting cycles hinder progress in oil and gas projects.
It listed other constraints to include: restrictive regulatory frameworks and operational constraints, technical competency gaps, spare parts limitations among local service providers, and gas infrastructure gaps resulting from systems originally designed for non-commercial use, now hindering economic viability.
Other challenges are oil revenue losses from crude oil theft and poor metering systems, as well as a decline in manpower development and graduate recruitment, which threaten to severely impair the industry’s future productivity, potentially leading to a substantial decrease in long-term sustainability.
The body, however, made additional recommendations, which called on indigenous companies to foster collaborative research and development partnerships with universities and industry peers to drive sustained capacity building and efficient project execution.
“Government should prioritise empowering indigenous service companies with tailored guidance, expertise, and technology transfer to enhance their capabilities in supporting the nation’s oil and gas exploration and production activities,” it stated.
