UGO AMADI
The Oil and Gas Trainers Association of Nigeria, OGTAN, has declared that sustaining Nigeria’s oil and gas industry will depend more on developing people than on discovering new fields, as it kicked off activities for the Human Capital Development Conference and Exhibition 2026 in Warri, Delta State.
Speaking at a drinks and networking dinner held at the Ogunu Golf Resort, OGTAN President, Chris Osarunmewense, said the choice of Warri for the 2026 edition was deliberate — to take the industry conversation “to where the industry lives and works.”“Human capital develops by progression.
At OGTAN, therefore, we treasure the potential of people who have developed human capital in nature, to effectively operate within the oil and gas industry,” Osarunmewense told guests drawn from operators, regulators, training institutions and service companies.
The dinner served as the opening event for HCD 2026, billed as the first in a series of conversations on how to build the workforce needed to deliver on Nigeria’s energy promises.
Addressing the question on everyone’s mind, the OGTAN President said Warri was chosen over traditional conference hubs like Lagos and Abuja because of its historical significance to Nigeria’s petroleum story.
“For us, this choice was meaningful. Warri is not simply a venue; it is part of the history of Nigeria’s oil and gas industry. The Niger Delta has, for decades, been at the heart of Nigeria’s petroleum industry,” he said.
He added that Warri represents “an important intersection of industry, technical capability, communities, institutions, and human capital,” and hosting the conference there allows international guests to experience Nigeria as “a region of talent, enterprise, technical expertise, institutions, communities, and enormous human capital potential.
”The 2026 conference is being hosted in collaboration with the Petroleum Training Institute, PTI, which Osarunmewense described as “one of Nigeria’s foremost institutions for technical and professional training in the petroleum sector.
” Earlier in the day, delegates participated in the HCD Golf Tournament. Osarunmewense said the sport mirrored the discipline required to build human capital.“Golf requires preparation, discipline, concentration, patience, strategy, and continuous improvement. Success does not come from one perfect shot; it comes from consistently making the right decisions, learning from mistakes, and improving on them again,” he said.
He congratulated tournament winners, but noted that “everyone who participated is a winner, because you have contributed to strengthening the relationships and the community that underpin this conference.
”Call for Collaboration Across the Value ChainThe OGTAN President stressed that no single institution can solve the industry’s skills and capacity challenges alone.
“The challenges before the industry are too complex for any single organization to solve. Government alone cannot solve it. Regulators cannot solve it alone. Oil and gas companies cannot solve it alone. Training providers cannot solve it alone. Universities and technical institutions cannot do so alone either. We need collaboration across the value chain,” he said.
He urged delegates to use the two-day conference to network beyond the podium sessions. “I encourage everyone here to use these two days not only to listen, but to reconnect and connect — meet someone you have never met before, explore a partnership, share an idea, identify competency gaps, discuss training solutions, and find an opportunity for collaboration. Sometimes the most important outcome of a conference is not what happens on the podium; it is what happens between people after the formal sessions
.”Osarunmewense also appreciated OGTAN’s partners, sponsors, speakers, panelists, educators, members and all organizations supporting HCD 2026.With Nigeria targeting 3 million barrels per day and pushing toward a cleaner energy future, OGTAN says the Warri conference is positioning human capital as the critical asset to get there.
