FG to unveil National Oil and Gas Excellence Centre in Lagos

Chinazor Megbolu |

The Federal Government of Nigeria is set to unveil National Oil and Gas Excellence Centre (NOGEC) by January 21, 2021.

The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), made this known on Monday in a statement, stressing the initiative will boost cost efficiency amongst others in the oil and gas sector.

The statement signed by the Head, Public Affairs, DPR, Mr. Paul Osu, noted that NOGEC, is programmed to boost the three-pronged objectives of safety, value and cost efficiency in the petroleum sector.

The unveiling, which would be done by President Muhammadu Buhari, the statement explained, would be virtual in a bid to promote the operations of the Nigeria’s oil and gas sector as well as mellow down the cost of oil and gas manufacturing.

The agency, however, pointed out that the NOGEC complex would be sited in Lagos, as well as to house the various flagship centres of the sector, in a bid to cover key areas of the oil and gas sector.

Moreover, the DPR further highlighted in the statement that the flagship centres will include; Search, Rescue and Surveillance, (SeRAS), Command and Control Centre and National improved Oil Recovery Centre (NIORC).

The rest are Oil and Gas Dispute Resolution Centre (DRC), Oil and Gas Competence Development Centre (CDC) and Integrated Data Mining and Analytics Centre (IDMAC).

Meanwhile the Director, DPR, Engineer Sarki Auwalu, hinted that the objectives of the centre, saddled with safety, value and cost efficiency, is a necessity and critical for the oil and gas sector to stabilise, grow and become sustainable.

He maintained that NOGEC would afford the nation’s oil and gas sector the drive for competitive advantage in a changing global energy landscape.

According to Auwalu; “the integrated centre will also entrench Nigeria’s status as regional leader and position the nation for significant global impact in the provision of value-added services and breakthrough solutions for the industry in years and decades to come.

“SeRAS will entrench safe practices, drive cost reduction and improve operational efficiency across the industry.

“The SeRAS Command and Control Centre (CCC) established at the NOGEC Centre, Lagos, while two other Rescue Coordination Centres (RCC) will be set up at Osubi and Brass, in the first instance, for effective coverage of areas of operations”.

Auwalu explained further that the setting up of the centre is to formulate and implement strategies for the improvement and enhancement oil recovery methods in the sector geared towards achieving maximum production at the lowest possible cost.

“The centre will partner with operators and technology innovators in their research and development efforts for achieving its objectives.

” It will also collaborate with similar international oil and gas regulators in sharing lessons learnt and operational best practices.

“NIORC will focus on the implementation of a robust national IOR framework to enable the country to optimise its resources as well as create greater opportunities for operators,” Auwalu said.

He, however, posited that the Oil and Gas DRC would offer arbitration, mediation and conciliation services for the industry.

“The centre would leverage industry technical experts, Alternative Dispute Resolution Practitioners and resources of the National Data Repository, NDR, to provide fair and balanced resolutions of industry-related disputes from an informed position.

“The DRC is structured to adequately resolve disputes in a manner consistent with regulatory and commercial interests of the industry.

“This will address sub-optimal development of oil and gas assets associated with lingering disputes and the attendant consequences of value erosion in terms of national resource growth, global competitiveness, investment attractiveness, government take and investor’s profitability,” he said