Petroleum explorers make case for increased activities in frontier basins

By Ediri Ejoh

Despite projected drop in oil reserves globally, the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists, NAPE, has urged the Federal Government not to scale down exploration of more frontier basins, if it intends to boost the country’s reserves and revenue.

NAPE said oil and gas would continue to be the globally-preferred fuel in the next couple of decades and that Nigeria as a mono-economy had no choice but to explore more frontier basins to boost reserves.

Addressing newsmen media ahead of its 38th Annual International Conference and Exhibition, AICE, to be held in Lagos, President of NAPE, Alex Tarka said the growing population of the country is also expected to trigger its energy demand and as such more discoveries are required to satisfy future energy demand.

Tarka informed that the theme of the conference, “Accelerating Growth in Nigeria’s Hydrocarbon Reserves: Emerging Concepts, Challenges and Opportunities” is challenging industry operators to deploy more energy and investment in the sector.

According to him, Nigeria is at risk of long-term disruption to oil and gas supplies, power generation, a collapse of industries and significant loss of revenue due to continued reduction in hydrocarbon exploration activities.

To this end, a reduction in hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation has dire consequences for a country like Nigeria with a mono-economy hinged on crude oil, cautioned Tarka.

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He explained that oil and gas would continue to be fuels of choice for the foreseeable future and conventional and unconventional hydrocarbons were likely to remain the main component of the energy mix needed to meet the growing global energy demand in the next five decades.

He said: “In the coming period, technological innovations will be critical not only in ensuring the supply of affordable hydrocarbons, but in mitigating the environmental impact of hydrocarbon exploration, production and utilization.

“Technology is the heart of all the significant achievements in the oil and gas industry. The way hydrocarbon is discovered, developed and produced, it has been impacted by evolutionary technologies that have emerged since the Drake well of 1859.

“But the challenge is how far Nigeria has travelled down the technology road. It is against the backdrop of the foregoing that the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE) will at its 38th Annual International Conference & Exhibition be deliberating on the petroleum business and the regulatory environment with a view to addressing the challenges of exploration and production in the onshore, offshore and Nigeria’s frontier basins, as well as government and regulatory agencies’ support and funding, Cash Call Exit and incentives, new fiscal regimes, PIB, NIPEX operations, Licensing rounds, refining capacity mid-stream infrastructure and the domestic gas market.

“The conference will also be beaming its searchlight on new technology application in exploration and production using big data, digitalization, data analytics, and artificial intelligence opportunities, among others.

“Participants at the conference will also be discussing the impact of renewable and unconventional energy resources in the oil and gas industry as well grooming the next generation of E&P professionals.”

Continuing, Tarka opined that oil exploration has significantly opened up the country’s huge gas potentials that can readily support government’s industrialisation initiative.

Vanguard News Nigeria

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