Engineer Ere Iyalla is an accomplished professional and a Chief Program Officer with the Gas Technology Development Division of the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF). He is a Chemical Engineer, a Certified Project and Programme Manager and Gas Transmission Professional. He has over 18 years experience, spanning the oil and gas, manufacturing and consulting industries. He is an active member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers International and currently a Section Director. He was the Section Chairman, SPE Abuja Section from 2018 to 2019. His two-year tenure was marked by excellence, paving way for the International Presidential Award for Outstanding Section in 2018 and 2019, an honour reserved for the top 5% of SPEs 204 Sections worldwide. Iyalla who is on the Board of the Nigerian Association for Energy Economics (NAEE), is currently the association’s Auditor. His current role involves conceptualizing and implementing training and other human capacity development initiatives to support the ongoing gas revolution. Iyalla, an expert in Gas Engineering, Energy Economics, Cost Engineering, Project and Program Management, Supply Chain management, Talent Management and Strategy, spoke to Danlami Nasir Isah in Abuja. Excerpts:
Briefly tell us about yourself and your role in the oil and gas industry?
I am Ere Iyalla, a passionate believer in the human potential and the capacity of Nigerians to play a leading role in oil and gas operations, now and in the future, not just as employees, but as technology developers and entrepreneurs. My role is to contribute towards ensuring that Nigerians develop the capabilities and competencies to harness the great opportunities available in the gas sector, especially with the Federal Government’s declaration of 2021-2031 as the decade of Gas.
What in your opinion is the greatest impediment against the development of the right capabilities for Nigerians to function effectively in the ongoing gas revolution?
Let me start from the root. I think our educational system was hitherto primed to reward learners for ‘’remembering’ rather than ‘’thinking’’ in other words preparing us to become people who take instructions rather than innovators. Vocational education was regarded as inferior; research was primarily & routinely academic and there was little collaboration between the Academia & industry. This is changing now, with the promotion of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics ( STEM) in the public and private sectors, the increasing popularity of the triple-helix model (Government, Academia, Industry Partnership) and of course with the entry of the digital revolution. With these and other changes in the global energy landscape, the need and opportunities to innovate have increased. The traditional jobs are disappearing, and technology is doing more with much less. With the (exponential) increase in number of graduates, decreasing number of available jobs due to process automation and the increasing dominance of digital technologies, the innovator and ‘tech-preneur’ stand to gain the most benefits from the industry globally. This will not be different in the upcoming gas revolution in Nigeria. In summary our educational system and overall mindset on required skills need to change and adapt. The ‘’Decade of Gas’ provides us with a huge opportunity to prepare for the active engagement of Nigerians in great numbers and to tackle the current unemployment conundrum.
What kind of innovation would we expect to see in the gas sector in Nigeria, given that many of the technologies likely to be deployed in the Nigerian gas industry are basically imported/mature technologies. How can we innovate in the short or medium term?
I would start by saying that Innovation has always been a natural course of action towards tackling challenges and exploiting opportunities. The gas industry faces its own challenges and opportunities especially related to the changes in the global landscape and these include: The need for leaner and streamlined operations, Need for cost reduction to make gas more affordable to consumers, Low gas prices, Climate change and The global decarbonisation movement. Peculiar to Nigeria, we have security and extreme environmental challenges (gas flaring), high development costs of our gas resources, supply chain inefficiencies in the domestic market etc. Beyond technical innovations in the E & P space and across the gas value chain, there are also other low hanging fruits we can exploit locally. These include: Innovations in Financial and commercial structuring: (such as the Nigerian gas flare commercialization programme), Innovations in Gas Trading – with launching of the Nigerian Gas Network code, Supply chain innovation: (such as the virtual pipeline initiative- transportation of gas via large scale trucking pending the development of the required infrastructure. Affordability Innovations to reduce the initial purchase costs of LPG by providing cylinders and stoves free and building their costs into the subsequent LPG purchases by the consumer. Transportation: Innovations to increase the transportation lot sizes and reduce the number of trips required to deliver given quantities to customers.
Digital transformation: advances in data analytics and connectivity such as the artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things (IoT) also create opportunities for efficiency and effectiveness in the domestic gas value chain by, for instance, matching supply with demand. These are just a few of the many ways we can innovate while we build the capabilities to develop home-grown technologies which can even be exported in the future
Going back to human capacity development, what would you consider as the key enablers to the development of local capabilities towards capturing substantial value from the development of the nation’s gas resources?
I’d say that there’s a need for the public and private sectors to keep investing in human capital and local R&D. Human capital development is key to promoting innovation. As the saying goes ‘’ smart technologies matter, but smart people matter more.
What skill sets are Nigerians expected to possess, beyond the traditional, to fit in effectively in the ongoing gas revolution and the gas sector of the future?
First, it is obvious that because the industry has been skewed towards the Upstream, (Exploration and Production) there are significant human capital gaps in delivering the Midstream and the Downstream. Beyond the core engineering and geoscience skills predominant in the upstream, we need to develop more commercial and marketing competencies to function effectively in the mid and downstream. The midstream and downstream segment of the gas value chain include gas processing, fractionating, storage transportation, distribution and marketing There are also opportunities for support skills such as HSE, Finance, Human resources and others. We also need to develop skills to think outside the box, solve problems that are yet to occur and to commercialize research/innovation. Secondly, the digital transformation of the industry will come with an overhaul of the technical jobs in the sector. Data analysts, application developers, technology specialists and system administrators would populate the gas sector of the future. The goal will be to enhance return on investment through improved decision making, optimized field operations and enhanced safety. Digitalization will also serve to optimize the value chain through collaboration. We need to prepare our local workforce for this change.
Any final thoughts on human capital development in the gas sector?
Nigeria needs to be manpower ready for the transitions that will occur as the energy industry evolves in response to demand, supply, environmental concerns, the energy transition (shift in focus from crude oil to gas and subsequently to renewables) and the digital revolution . The Nigerian public and private sector need to come together to ensure that this evolution ultimately benefits the local workforce in terms of employment and business opportunities.