By Moses Patience Chat
The Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has urged the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited and other stakeholders in the industry to strive and ensure they dominate the Sub-Saharan African oil and gas market.
Aregbesola said this while giving a goodwill message at the ongoing Nigerian Oil and Gas Opportunity Fair (NOGOF 2023), with the theme: “The Oil and Gas Industry: Catalyst and Fuel for the Industrialization of Nigeria,” which is taking place at the Nigerian Content Towers in Bayelsa State.
The Biennial event, which is organized by the Nigerian Content Development and Management Board (NCDMB), is aimed at providing a platform where oil and gas stakeholders can showcase the various opportunities available in the industry.
The Minister stated that new deposits of oil and gas are being discovered in Nigeria and yet the country has not been able to leverage on the available resources for industrialization despite all efforts of the government. He said that the sector is dominated by mostly foreign firms in exploration, extraction, refining, territorial service and marketing of refined petroleum products including lubricants.
According to him, “what we consume in Nigeria is now imported in the value chain. The time has come for the oil industry to begin to take ownership and domesticate every aspect of the industrial technology and develop.”
He further said that indigenous companies in Nigeria should start investing in acquisition, technology, processing and research in all aspects of petroleum research. Aregbesola also noted that although foreign players are needed in the industry, indigenous companies should be the driver since it is “our game”. He added that the country should not only take the oil and gas destiny in Nigeria alone but rather strive to dominate the oil and gas industry in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The Interior Minister urged Nigeria to leverage on gas to produce electricity for domestic consumption and excellence, and that the country can make 10 times revenue on finished products than on primary products, which will in return create more wealth and prosperity. He added that as energy transition seems very close, the oil and gas industry should ensure they come up with other alternatives to oil in ways that it will not disrupt the economy of the country.
“We all know the importance of petrol resources in Nigeria. Oil constitutes 80% of all exports. Our economy runs on oil to power generators and heavy industry merchinaries. Oil is also a major employer of labor directly or indirectly providing jobs for millions of Nigerians in exploration and refining, transportation and marketing.
” Despite the advances in electronic or electric motor vehicles, oil will remain a dominant player in the global economy for at least the next 15 years,” he said.
Aregbesola also commended the leadership of NCDMB for invitating the Ministry to this year’s edition of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Opportunity Fair (NOGOF 2023).
