Highest body of petroleum explorers in Nigeria, Nigeria Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE) on Monday took a swipe at the Federal Government’s inaction on oil blocks bid round, declaring that the 40 billion barrels oil reserves target set by government is not feasible by 2020.
President of NAPE, Dr. Andrew Ejayeriese, who declared this in Lagos at a press conference to herald the 36th Annual International Conference and Exhibition, picked holes in the efforts put in place by the government to meet the target.
The government had, through the ministry of Petroleum resources set Year 2020 to meet 40 billion oil reserves and to increase oil production to 4 million barrels per day.
“The 40 billion barrels is not possible; it is not going to happen,” Ejayeriese said.
Accompanied to the conference by President – Elect and Chairman, Conference Planning Committee, Mr. Ajibola Oyebamiji and Publicity Secretary, Mr. Emmanuel Egbele, the NAPE President said; “The way the government handles bid round and oil exploration shows that it is not possible for the target to be met by 2020.
“Successive administrations have enunciated economic policies and strategies on how to diversify the nation’s economy from oil to other sectors like agriculture, mining and tourism. The Nigerian economy has not diversified at the anticipated rate.”
He continued: “In emerging economies, the challenges are similar: uncertainty in regulatory frameworks, poor physical infrastructure, lack of skilled resources, corruption and poor ethics.
“For Nigeria, there is no better time than the present to begin to envision an era beyond oil. It has been said that Africa is the new frontier for energy in many ways. Now is the opportunity for oil and gas companies to reinvent themselves. Against the backdrop of low oil price, dwindling oil revenue, there have been strident calls for the nation to diversify her economy from the monolithic economy and absolute dependence on oil into other areas to sustain the nation in terms of revenue generation.”
Although significant achievements have been recorded, according to him, in the management of Nigeria’s oil and gas resources compared to recent past, NAPE believes that to build a more diversified and more resilient economy, government’s plan must include finding and enhancing new opportunities and prudently allocating its revenue which comes mainly from oil and gas to the development of other key sectors of the economy.
“Government must offer oil and gas investors an attractive environment by reforming the regulatory, fiscal and licensing systems.”
Corroborating Ejayeriese’s view, Oyebamiji said that the way the government is handling oil bid round is encouraging manipulation and corruption.
“Bid round should be left for those in the industry, not for politicians, to manage. Manipulation is allowed based on the fact that it is left for politicians to manage. As we speak, Zambia has open season bidding but in Nigeria there are so many blocks to be given out and make money but we are just sitting on them.
“The Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE) deliberate on major critical issues in a quest to address the challenges in the Nigerian Energy industry. Oil and Gas will continue to be a commodity characterized by peaks and troughs. The cyclicality of the industry is not a new phenomenon.
“Stability in oil prices is critical in order to achieve high economic growth. The global energy market is getting increasingly more complex; with the low oil price regime, hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation are no longer as profitable it was prior to the price decline in 2015.
“While global demand for reliable and affordable energy will continue to rise in the foreseeable future, the world is moving toward a low carbon era. Consequently, oil and gas companies will find it expedient to review long term strategies and innovate, recognizing the possibility that oil is on the brink of suffering a fate similar to coal.”
