From Ben Dunno, Warri
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, has expressed optimism in the viability of the petroleum industry to sustain the economy, disclosing that the Nigerian Oil and Gas Park under construction at Odukpani in Cross River State, will be completed by December this year.
The Park, according to the Minister would create an environment for low-cost manufacturing that would produce equipment components and spare parts that will be used in the Nigerian Oil and Gas industry.
The Minister made this disclosure this at the Petroleum Training Institute (PTI), Effurun, Delta State, on the occasion of the 22nd Graduation ceremony of the institute which also marked the grand finale of the golden jubilee anniversary of the Institution.
The Minister who was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Ambassador Gabriel Tanimu Aduda, explained that “the completion of this project will benefit the national economy because it will help reduce the demand for foreign exchange for importation of equipment”.
“It will also provide employment opportunities for graduands of the Institute”, he added.
The Minister further disclosed that the output from the Nigeria’s Liquefied Natural Gas would soon be boosted with the signing of ‘the Train 7 contract’ which, according to him, “will bring about employment and development for Nigerians as 55 percent of the engineering activities will be carried out in Nigeria, 55 percent of all procurements will be done by competent Nigerian vendors and 100 percent of the installations and construction of Train 7 will be executed in Nigeria”.
“The $7 billion project will support the Federal Government’s drive, to generate more revenue from Nigeria’s confirmed gas reserves of about 207 trillion cubic feet and this will further reduce gas flaring in the industry”, the Minister stated.
Sylva listed other efforts by the Federal Government at further boosting the industry as including “coordinating with international partners to promote Nigeria’s petroleum sector, push for the establishment of an African Energy Bank, increasing the Nigerian Content Intervention Fund to $350 million, etc”.
He spoke further, “Currently, this administration is making concerted efforts to curtail the issue of crude oil theft which has reduced the government’s revenue and foreign exchange income. Oil theft has denied the country of estimated 700,000 barrels per day”.
“The adverse effect of this is the drop in the production of crude oil. Despite this setback, the government is not deterred on meeting with the country’s OPEC quota. These criminal activities are not taking place in oblivion”.
“Therefore, the involvement of the locals in tackling the problem is very essential. Similarly, the federal government has also acquired state of the art software’s and gadgets to detect, monitor crude oil theft in real time”.
“Interestingly, the Petroleum Training Institute, as an indispensable organ of the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, cannot be ignored while mentioning the goals and achievements of this administration”.
“This is because the management of the Petroleum Training Institute has aligned itself with the agenda of the Petroleum Ministry through its Research Directorate”.
“The Ministry has given the Institute mandates in different areas such as; research on the use of local materials in crude oil production, gas flare commercialization, and last but not the least, finding sustainable ways of increasing our nation’s domestic refining capacity in as an indispensable organ of the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, cannot be ignored while mentioning the goals and achievements of this administration”.
“This is because the management of the Petroleum Training Institute has aligned itself with the agenda of the Petroleum Ministry through its Research Directorate”.
“The Ministry has given the Institute mandates in different areas such as; research on the use of local materials in crude oil production, gas flare commercialization, and last but not the least, finding sustainable ways of increasing our nation’s domestic refining capacity in order to achieve its OPEC quota”.
“To this end, it is important that the Petroleum Training Institute expands in line with its core mandate which is “to provide competent technological manpower through quality training, research, and consultancy for the petroleum and allied industries”.
“Therefore, it is paramount that the institute implements programmes that are designed to equip staff with knowledge and skills to achieve the Institute mandate.
“This will keep them up to date on recent trends that are pertinent to oil and gas industry. Similarly, liaison with relevant parastatals, local and international oil companies for the continuous upgrade of relevant training equipment will be in the best interest of the Institute this 21st century”.
“Notwithstanding the bold strides of the management of the Institute, the Institute can achieve more if the PTI Act is amended to make the Institute get more funding for its operations”.
“To this end, I shall in my capacity as Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, synergize with the National Assembly that adequate attention is given to the amendment of the PTI Act before the end of this administration”.
Speaking earlier, the Principal/Chief Executive of PTI, Dr. Henry Adimula disclosed that a total of 1,156 graduands were receiving the Institute’s Diplomas and Certificates for the 2020/2021 academic session at the event.
Out of the number, 629 were awarded National Diploma and 501 awarded Higher National Diploma while six graduands received PTI General Welding Certificates. Out of the number, 112 students graduated with distinction while 380 graduated with upper credit grades.
The Principal noted that in this era of energy transition, the trainings undertaken by the graduating students had prepared them “for the various opportunities that are available not only in the oil and gas and allied industries but equally in the renewable, new and cleaner sources of energy”.