Bank-Anthony Okoroafor, the chairman of the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN), an umbrella organisation that represents Nigerian companies in the oil and gas industry spoke to TOGY on several issues relating to the Nigerian energy sector.
On well services he said: “Well intervention activities started creeping up with the low oil price because people were not drilling new wells. They had to start maintaining what they have.”
On exploration he noted: “We have not had any major discoveries for the past 10 years. We need to ring-fence budgets for exploration. We need to finance our budget for exploration, because the balance sheet of oil and gas goes down without replacement of reserves. We are not replacing, so we become less attractive.”
On gas-to-power he indicated: “Everybody says we need gas, we can do this, and if we have gas we can have our own electricity. But we need to put in a strategic plan and a budget. Without budget, all the talk is hopeless.”
On downstream he highlighted: “The whole country cannot meet the demand because the refineries are not functioning optimally. There is so much importation, which is why there is so much pressure on foreign exchange.”
Source: TOGY