By John Meze

The President of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE), Mr Alex Tarka, has stated that the  country risks a long-term disruption in the oil and gas industry, the power sector as well as a total collapse of industries, if urgent measures were not taken to check receding hydrocarbon exploration activities in the country.

Speaking to  Energy Correspondents at a press briefing in Lagos on the forthcoming 38th Annual International Conference and Exhibition (AICE) of the group,  Mr. Alex Tarka, said the disruption, which would occasion loss of revenue to the nation, would arise from the ongoing reduction in hydrocarbon exploration activities in the country.

Mr. Tarka, said that the theme of the AICE, “Accelerating Growth in Nigeria’s Hydrocarbon Reserves: Emerging Concepts, Challenges and Opportunities”, was adopted to address the reduction in hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation which has dire consequences for Nigeria with mono-economy hinged on crude oil.

He further observed that oil and gas industry will continue to be fuels of choice for the foreseeable future and conventional as well as unconventional hydrocarbon are likely to remain the main component of the energy mix needed to meet the growing global energy demand in the next five decades.

The NAPE President added that in the coming period, technological innovations will be critical not only in ensuring the supply of affordable hydrocarbon but in mitigating the environmental impact of hydrocarbon exploration, production and utilisation.

“Technology is the heart if all the significant achievements in the oil and gas industry. The way hydrocarbon is discovered, developed and produced 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 this backdrop of the foregoing that the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists will at its 38th Annual Interna Technolference and  exhibition be deliberating on the petroleum business and regulatory environment with a view to addressing the challenge 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, midstream infrastructure and the domestic gas market,” he said.

This year’s AICE is slated to hold physically and virtually at the Eko Hotel & Suites, Victoria Island and the NAPE Secretariat at Lekki, Lagos from 15-19 November, 2020.

The Conference will host speakers who are high level industry practitioners, key personnel in government and the academia, delivering technical papers on chosen key areas.

The Pre-Conference Workshop is expected to set the tone for the entire conference. It is worthy to note that key pieces of legislation such as the Marginal Fields Act and the Deepwater Act were all based on templates that came out of previous NAPE Pre-Conference Workshop Communiqués.