By Ikenna Omeje

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, has called on the leaders in the Nigeria’s oil and gas industry to embrace the culture of collaboration.

He said that with the recent issuance of licences to some indigenous exploration and production companies, there is no better time  to embrace collaboration than now, adding that the unprecedented crisis caused by Covid-19 pandemic has made collaboration key to achieve success, especially for the new marginal fields.

The Minister, however, acknowledged that increased competition and low level of trusts put stumbling block to collaboration, but noted that there is no better way to deal with the increased risks and global market instability the industry is facing at this time than through collaboration.

He said, “I know that collaboration has been a buzz word in the oil and gas industry for years but the industry has equally paid lip service to it. With new set of marginal field licenses on the scene, there is no better time to shift the mindset but now. I say this because at this time of unprecedented crisis occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic, there is no better strategy to achieve success for these new marginal fields especially for the cluster of contagious fields.

“I understand that increased competition, low levels of trusts are all barriers to collaboration but at the same time there is no better way to deal with the increased risks and global market instability we face at this time. The industry needs to overcome the strategy of working in silos and embrace collaboration and knowledge sharing.”

According to the Minister, “We need to fully entrench that culture of collaboration by working together, sharing knowledge and expertise, pooling talent and resources amongst teams, industry peers and MDAs at all levels. That is a sure way the industry can decrease waste, improve efficiency and lower its breakeven costs for the industry’s survival and chart its eventual return to sustainable profitability.”

Sylva stated this  at the opening ceremony of the just concluded 2021 Nigeria International Petroleum Summit (NIPS), which held in Abuja, with the theme, “From Crisis to Opportunity: New approaches to the future of hydrocarbons.”

With increasing oil price volatility and increased pressure for cost reduction, he said that the Nigeria’s oil and gas industry needs to reinvent itself so that it can fully utilize the dividends to set the country on the path to industrialization and prosperity. 

Sylva further stated that  when the NIPS was conceived in 2016 by President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, the objective was to be the pre-eminent oil and gas industry event by Nigeria for Africa and global oil and gas industry, adding that with three editions down the line and now the fourth one,  NIPS has attained its objective. 

He thanked Buhari  for his leadership, steadfastness and unalloyed support towards ensuring that the country’s oil and gas industry is on the sound footing. He also appreciated the Brevity Anderson Consortium, the event organisers, for their professionalism, diligence and mark excellence in putting together the event.

NIPS is a Federal Government of Nigeria official petroleum industry event with the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources and all its parastatals including the NNPC, NCDMB, DPR, PEF, PTDF, and PTI as joint hosts.