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PETAN team, comprising Chairman, Mr. Nicolas Odinuwe and Vice Chairman, Mr. Ranti Omole, accompanied the Namibian Minister of Mines and Energy, Hon. Tom Alweendo and Petroleum Commissioner of Namibia, Mrs. Maggy Shino to an engagement with the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri on the sidelines of the Nigeria International Energy Summit holding in Abuja.
The meeting, which was at the bequest of the Namibian delegation, was to rub minds with the oil and gas industry in Nigeria, learn from our decades of experience, and seek opportunities for collaboration for capacity-building as well as enshrine local content in a bid to properly manage the country’s budding Oil and Gas discoveries in a responsible manner that will ensure optimum benefits to the country.
The meeting was facilitated by PETAN, and held at the Minister’s office at The NNPC Towers in Abuja.
Responding, the Minister of State, Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, pledged the Ministry’s support for Namibia’s Oil and Gas sector, saying that even though mistakes were made in Nigeria’s journey, they’ve made the sector resilient.
He advised his counterpart to ensure that early commitments are made with partners for offshore exploration.
He promised to facilitate visits and partnerships on any area that the country needed in ensuring maximum benefits from their Oil and gas sector through the exchange of knowledge, skills, expertise and know-how, adding that the Local Content Act, which was passed when he was Senator, was a game-changer for Nigeria’s indigenous oil and gas operators as it entrenched Local Content practice, promoting capabilities and capacities and proving jobs to indigenes.
He promised that as the Chairman of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) Governing Council, he stood ready to inaugurate the reconstituted Board Council and refer all necessary support to Namibia.
He advised that joint venture agreements and production sharing contracts should be thoroughly thought-out and implemented using technologies that capture and monitor every barrel of oil produced.
“We have sufficient experience to share with you to guide you on the right path…because we have to take our own destiny as Africans into our own hands. The West is not slowing down but they want us to slow down so that we can import from them but another lesson for Namibia is to look critically at the midstrean and downstream sectors so that local, in-country refining of crude will give the projected 18 times more value more value to it’s citizens.
He said that there was no reason why African oil producers should export their oil at the expense of local consumers, adding that African Oil and Gas-producing countries should aspire for such a time, and focus more on the ready and expanding West African market for full value-addition to their economies. He recounted the ripple effect of the fuel subsidy removal effected in Nigeria which resulted in protests in parts of the sub-region.
The meeting ended with the presentation of gifts to the Minister by the Namibian delegation and a photo session following which the Minister escorted the visiting team to their departure points.
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