The Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN) has initiated efforts to showcase the potential of Nigeria’s oil and gas industry in a bid to attract fresh investments and address the country’s underproduction gap. According to PETAN, Nigeria is currently underproducing by at least 500,000 barrels per day, amounting to $15 billion and hundreds of trillions of naira in excess of the national budget annually.
This strategy forms part of PETAN’s agenda for the upcoming Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston, USA. The association aims to support the Bola Tinubu-led administration’s endeavours to increase Nigeria’s oil and gas production for maximum value, according to Leadership.
Mr. Wole Ogunsanya, Chairman of PETAN, affirmed the association’s commitment during a meeting with representatives of the Association of Energy Correspondents of Nigeria (NAEC) in Lagos over the weekend. Ogunsanya reiterated PETAN’s intention to collaborate with authorities to ensure that the benefits of the oil industry remain within Nigeria.
Ogunsanya emphasized that retaining 60 to 70 percent of the oil and gas value chain in Nigeria could propel the country into the ranks of the world’s top 20 economies. He expressed concerns over Nigeria’s current loss of revenue due to its failure to produce up to its oil production capacity, attributing this shortfall to the lack of in-country retention of values and benefaction across all sectors of the industry.
He outlined the vision of PETAN, advocating for Nigerian organisations’ involvement in the entire oil and gas value chain, from extraction to refining and processing, including power generation and infrastructure development. He asserted that such comprehensive involvement would significantly enhance Nigeria’s economic standing and prospects for growth.
