Isa
The Government’s support of indigenous E & P companies’ participation in the ongoing IOC divestment is critical and shall provide a solid avenue for securing the country’s energy future. It is therefore imperative that targeted policies are formulated to support, empower and consolidate the position of the indigenous players.
The Chairman, Independent Petroleum Producers Group, IPPG, Abdulrazaq Isa stated that above on Tuesday at the ongoing 2022 Nigerian Oil & Gas Conference & Exhibition in Abuja.
“It is against this background that IPPG openly solicits for a high level dialogue between Government, its institutions and Indigenous Operators that have demonstrated capacity and strength. Together, they must be the timely catalyst needed, and the safe hands to be trusted with these emerging opportunities”, he said.
“With the declaration of 2060 as Nigeria’s net-zero target during the last COP 26 in Glasgow by Mr. President, our focus as an industry in the short to medium term must be to rapidly exploit our hydrocarbon assets for the socioeconomic transformation of our country and deploying same to guarantee our energy security”, he added.
“IPPG fully supports the position of Government to harness our gas resources and utilising it as a lower-carbon bridge to energy transition. To achieve these goals, we need the collective strengths of Government and Private Investors working together as a positive force. Since the discovery of crude in Oloibiri almost seventy years ago, the industry has been largely dominated by the International Oil and Gas Companies, IOC”, he noted
However, in the last two decades, according to him the number and contribution of indigenous players, largely due to Government’s initiatives and IOC divestments, has significantly increased.
“I believe the current exercise will even be more successful considering the size of responsibility on the indigenous players and the determination to sustainable growth of the sector and the country”, maintained Isa.
“Let me assure the industry that the onshore and shallow water assets being transferred in the course of these divestments by the IOCs are in safe hands with the indigenous E & P companies. To date, our members have a proven track record of performance and remain best placed to guarantee a steady flow of investments in adding value to these divested assets. An aggregate of over $20 billion has been spent on acquisition plus capital expenditures in the past 10 years to grow the divested assets”, the IPPG chairman stressed.
In addition, some of our members according to him have demonstrated an appetite for supporting the Government’s energy security vision by building a broader value-adding midstream and downstream business. “Overall, our members have deployed unique capabilities in operations which have minimised incidences of community disruptions and enhanced impactful community engagement models”, he stated further.
“IPPG strongly believes indigenous players have the technical and financial capability to realise the Government’s aspirations for the sustainable growth of our industry”, he opined.
