NOGOF will Create Opportunities for Nigeria Oil and Gas Industry

 Speaking during his welcome address at the 4th Edition of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Opportunity Fair (NOGOF) 2023, the Executive Secretary, Simbi Wabote said, the theme of this year’s NOGOF “Oil & Gas Industry – Catalyst and Fuel for the Industrialization of Nigeria,” reflects the pivotal role that the oil and gas industry is expected to play in driving the economic growth and development of Nigeria.

He made it known that this role expected of the oil and gas industry has been dwindling due to missed opportunities as a result of policy inconsistencies, deferred decisions, and investments apathy.

In his words: “Just to set the context, I would like to draw your attention to the nation’s GDP growth rate between the years 2021 to 2022 as released by the National Bureau for Statistics (NBS).

Over this period, the growth of the nation’s GDP has been marginal, but the reality is that we need to drive the growth rate to double digits for us to achieve the level of economic advancement and development that we desire.”

According to the ES, the NBS report noted that the total annual contribution of oil to aggregate GDP in 2022 was 5.67% compared to 7.24% in 2021. Thus, the oil sector has steadily dropped behind Agriculture, Trade, Telecommunications/ICT, and Real Estate in terms of sectors that contributed the most to Nigeria’s GDP.

“These are signs of a dying sector, and we must all join hands to stop the decline so that we can return oil and gas contribution to GDP to double digits levels similar to other major oil producing countries.”

Wabote lamented that these are signs of a dying sector and stakeholders must join hands to stop the decline so as to return oil and gas contribution to GDP to double digits levels similar to other major oil producing countries.

For instance, Norway has doubled its GDP in the last 2 years from $171.2 billion to $367 billion with the oil and gas sector contributing about 20% followed by their hydropower.

Although Norway is in a different clime from Nigeria, but the country share some similarities comparing huge deposits of natural resources coupled with skilled labour force and adoption of new technology that made Norway a prosperous country during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

The ES believed that the oil and gas sector can serve as the catalyst that will enable Nigeria to achieve the desired double-digit GDP growth rate if the country is bold and disruptive in its strategy.

NOGOF is designed with certain objectives: Showcasing opportunities in the upstream, midstream and downstream sectors of the petroleum industry, providing opportunity for foreign and local investors to build synergies in the Nigerian oil and gas industry.

It provides Nigerian companies and prospective investors an opportunity to showcase their capabilities. Provide stakeholders with information on upcoming projects to enable Nigerian companies/manufacturers tailor their business development strategies. Identify high impact activities with potential for in-country value addition with a 5-year outlook to deepen the practice of Nigerian Content.

There are also five broad categories of opportunities which includes; policy driven, people driven, fund driven, infrastructure driven and situational opportunities for stakeholders.

Wabote also revealed that several policies have been formulated and implemented by the government in its quest to stimulate economic growth and development.

One of such policies is the Decade of Gas which seeks to stimulate development and utilization of gas resources for increased domestic utilization and export towards generating more revenue for the nation.

The automotive gas policy advocates for the use of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) as an alternative fuel for vehicles and this has also created a vista of opportunities in the supply and installation of conversion kits in vehicles to enable it use of CNG. Several industries have also installed kits to enable their power generating plants to utilize CNG and in some cases Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG instead of diesel to manage cost.

These policy initiatives have led to creation of several businesses and a surge in local utilisation of gas. For example, the annual consumption of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) increased from 360,000tonnes in 2015 to 1.4million tonnes in 2022.

While this growth is commendable, it is instructive to note that about half of the local LPG requirement is imported. In addition, the consumption level is still far below the 4million tonnes consumption by the year 2025 as targeted by the National Gas Expansion Program (NGEP).

He noted that the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is another broad-based policy that provides opportunities for the oil and gas industry in Nigeria.

AfCFTA creates single largest free trade market in the world for goods and services in Africa, and this has numerous opportunities including market, sources of raw materials, export of manpower.

As part of developing local content, Wabote disclosed that NCDMB has been a champion for providing opportunities for youths and women in the oil and gas industry and its linkage sectors through valued training.

This training provides youths both male and female with requisite skill set necessary for them to participate in opportunities across different industries, especially in this technology-driven age.

The Board has provided train-the-trainers programs across the country, delivered over 13 million man-hours in On-the-Job training covering sea-time for marine cadets, non-destructive testing, equipping youths in new skill sets such as GSM repair, solar power installation, and provision of entrepreneurial exposure that will ensure sustainability.

“With almost one million graduates, technicians, and artisans being produced every year, there is a huge need to provide Human Capacity Development programs to develop our youths and keep them engaged in productive activities.”

The NCDMB boss implored stakeholders to support the realisation of the Board’s target opportunities. While the oil and gas industry is expected to fuel industrialisation of the nation’s economy.