OPEC, DPR, NNPC target $8bn from crude transport optimisation

Stakeholders in the oil and gas industry, as well as the maritime sector, have stated that the country can boost the sectors’ contribution to the economy by about $8 billion via crude oil transportation.

Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kyari; Director of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Sarki Auwalu; Secretary-General of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo and other stakeholders, at the 4th value chain yearly lecture and awards, noted that maximising the value in the two critical sectors would drastically improve the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Speaking at the event, Kyari noted that while freight for oil shipment stands at about $5 billion, increased activities in the oil and gas sector, especially in the terms of oil production could push the revenue to $8 billion.
“There is the need to look inwards and build capacity locally and strengthen the synergy between maritime as well as oil and gas sector,” Kyari, who said the maritime sector has the potential to contribute 10 per cent to the nation’s GDP.

“With oil production carried out offshore and over 70 per cent total production transported by ships, this industry generates $5 billion freight cost annually and has potential to increase to $8 billion,” he said.

Delivering a lead paper on ‘Enhancing Effective Synergy Between Oil and Gas and Maritime Sectors for a Greater Value’, Auwalu said while the value of total foreign trade of Nigeria stood at N36.1 trillion in 2019, constraints, especially cost optimisation of petroleum products, limit the potential of the sector.

According to him, the DPR has enhanced the Marine Petroleum Products Retail Operations (MAPPRO) popularly known as “bunkering” to ensure that the country becomes the principal MAPPRO hub in the region.

With 26 of 31 crude oil and gas terminals being offshore in the form of Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) and Floating Storage and Offloading (FSO) vessels, Auwalu said offshore production and exports and the associated maritime operations, remains at the centre of Nigeria oil and gas industry.
“To this end, the oil and gas industry has a lot to offer the maritime industry in terms of design and maintenance of offshore installations/ facilities as well as safety and emergency response, together with innovations in digitisation and remote surveillance/ monitoring capabilities.

“On the other hand, not only does the maritime and oil and gas industry share collaboration, but they also face similar risks and threats in the foreseeable future, including geopolitical tension, cyber-attacks, crude oil price, decarbonisation, climate-change adaptation, global economic crisis and piracy/theft.”

However, with effective synergy and collaboration, both industries can surmount these challenges and turn them into opportunities for our common good and the health of the national economy,” Auwalu said.

Barkindo, who noted that Nigeria’s five decades’ journey in OPEC was commendable, said collaboration remained critical to driving growth.

He said the passage of the awaited Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) should be commended, saying it exemplified the need to advance working relationships, both at home and internationally, strengthen institutions, initiate new regulatory/fiscal frameworks and help attract much-needed investment, that would lead to greater value creation for the country and its citizens.