AT NOGOF 2023, WABOTE SEEKS DOUBLE-DIGIT OIL INDUSTRY CONTRIBUTION TO GDP
are up to date, up to the month of April. And probably before I get back to Abuja, it will hit your accounts and that wouldn’t have been possible without production recovery.”
He said the development had re-energised the JVs to recalibrate their focus towards sustaining production and increasing their spending to procure the necessary services required to increase crude oil production.
According to the NUIMS chief, who represented the Executive Vice President, Upstream of the NNPC, Mr. Adokiye Tombomieye, the national oil company and its partners have now successfully confronted a trilemma of challenges.
He added that Nigeria was poised to increase national production output and usher in a new era of growth and opportunities in the Nigerian upstream oil and gas industry.
Wunti stressed that the enactment of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021 and its effective implementation ended the fiscal uncertainties and empowered the newly established institutions to discharge their mandates effectively.
On the security challenges, which often affected oil production in the Niger Delta, Wunti said NNPC had deployed industry-wide security architecture. He added that this was done after NNPC sought and got a presidential approval to rally stakeholders to implement holistic hydrocarbon infrastructure security architecture to tackle the issue of crude oil theft and vandalism of oil and gas assets.
He said, “The security operations are monitored and coordinated from a central command and coordination centre that leverages state-of-the-art technology to detect illegal activities and escalate to the front line for swift response in a timely, cost-efficient, and effective manner.”
Furthermore, Wunti stated that an industry-wide security arrangement was in place to drive down the cost of crude production. He stated that the focus had shifted towards raising production to 1.8 million barrels per day in July 2023 and two million barrels per day by December 2023.
Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa commended Wabote for the Oloibiri Museum and other infrastructural projects in the state, including the training and retraining of youths and women.
Represented by the Commissioner for Mineral Resources, Mr Ebiere Jones, Diri urged the Nigerian government to look into establishment of pipeline company in Nigeria.
He said many youths in Bayelsa State were unemployed, and charged oil firms to create opportunities for Bayalsa youths to be trained.
Others, who spoke at the event, included Chief Executive, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Gbenga Komolafe, represented by Executive Commissioner, Economic Regulation and Strategic Planning, Dr Kelechi Ofoegbu.
Chief Executive of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Farouk Ahmed, was represented by Mansur Kuliya, Executive Director, Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure.
Also represented were Director General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Bashir Jamoh; Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum, Gabriel Aduda; Chairman/MD Chevron, Rick Kennedy; and Managing Director, Total E&P, Mike Sangster. Country Chair, Shell Companies in Nigeria, Osagie Okunbor, also spoke at the event.