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PETAN assures on capacity to lower production cost

The Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN) has assured the country that it would crash the production cost in the oil and gas sector. The Association, through its Chairman, Wole Ogunsanya, made this known when he visited the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPCL) Limited, Mr. Mele Kyari at the NNPC Towers in Abuja.

In a statement signed by the Publicity Secretary of PETAN, Innocent Akuvue, the group regretted that the country’s cost of production when compared to many other countries, remains too high.

PETAN, the statement said, therefore hopes to bridge the gap of cost of production and cost of sales through collaboration with the government, the regulators and the NNPCL. The group, Ogunsanya said, is supporting the Presidential mandate to revamp the economy through increased oil production, and as such, would deploy its all-encompassing overreaching capacity which its members have garnered for decades on the local content journey to ramp up oil and gas production for the country at reduced cost.

"In the next few years nearly 70 per cent of onshore assets will be owned by Nigerians and PETAN has the strategy to maximise the footprints from these assets through a well-articulated model that will allow us to master full in-country value chain of Exploration, Production, Midstream and Downstream. The Model Project will start small within  5,000 -10,000 Bopd using our cost-saving technologies, know-how whilst saving cost and then upscale to support NNPCL and other Onshore Asset owners," Ogunsanya said, assuring that his Group is ready to deepen collaboration with the NNPCL to increase oil and gas production for the common good of the country.

Ogunsanya noted that the oil and gas industry which has been helping the country stay afloat should not be left to buckle under present varying challenges. He therefore commended the NNPCL for its leading role in laying the foundation for local content practice in the country and charged for deepened partnerships on projects across the board.

"We have the equipment, the services and the capacities across the value chain - finding the well, well testing, bringing the oil and gas to the surface, early production facility services, we have the capacity for EPCI, oil and gas processing, and so forth to bridge any gap on assets management,” he explained.

Kyari described PETAN as a dependable partner in the industry despite the critical changes being experienced in the sector, especially in respect to ramping up production. "We have a very determined President who makes procurement easier now; fiscal systems have been improved tremendously, as well as midstream and Upstream development all of which create a lot of opportunities which we need to collaborate to deliver.

In similar vein, the Executive Vice President, Upstream, NNPCL, Mrs. Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, equally noted that it was gratifying to hear the aspirations of PETAN, which aligns with the Federal Government's and by extension the NNPCL's.

"From our humble beginnings, we thought that the industry would morph into something much larger, but today, we are starting new beginnings with a good number of divestments that are about to be concluded, presenting opportunities in the industry and are to be run by Nigerians for Nigerians necessitating a stronger synergy between the new operators and PETAN as technical oilfield services providers.

"The Executive Order in itself as an enabler, has tried to address the issue of the contracting cycle, which poses a major challenge because it slows down development and increases cost of production. It's time to work together to improve systems and processes to encourage Nigerians who have the capacity to do business in Nigeria. In area of domestic gas, we are concerned about utilising the huge opportunities in unlocking the benefits and charge PETAN to collaborate with us in a focused and collaborative approach to fix the power equation in Nigeria which we believe will make everything else fall into place and make countries like Dubai to look like child's play compared to Nigeria,” she said.

She assured that the NNPC is committed to continue to work with PETAN and the new dispensation will ensure that we incorporate you in all that we do.