TOTAL WINS LOCAL CONTENT AWARD AT 2019 NAEC CONFERENCE

Total in Nigeria was awarded the Outstanding Contributor to Local Content Development among its peers at the one-day Association of Energy Correspondents of Nigeria (NAEC) Conference held at the Eko Hotel and Suites, Lagos on Thursday, August 22, 2019.

The award is a recognition of the company’s local content contribution through its Egina Project that led to over 46 million man hours of work performed in-country.  

The conference which had as its theme “Harnessing Oil and Gas Potential for National Development” was a meeting point for stakeholders and regulators in the oil and gas and energy sector.

In the keynote address by the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mallam Mele Kyari who was represented by the Chief Financial Officer of the NNPC, Mr. Umar Ajiya, stated that “Nigeria currently has about 37 billion barrels of proven plus probable 2P oil reserves as well as 192Tcf of 2P gas reserves. The country is Africa’s leading exporter of LNG and ranks 4th in the World after Qatar, Australia and Malaysia.”

He assured all present: “Today with our partners, we are driving the national aspiration to grow the National reserves to 40 billion barrels by 2025 and improve crude oil production to 3 million barrels per day during the period. We have to open up the midstream, complete all critical gas development projects targeted at delivering about 3Bscfd to gas market.”

In its goodwill message, Total a co-sponsor of the conference, raised the need for a proper blueprint from the conference that will be presented to relevant government agencies and lead to policy documents.

“The oil industry in Nigeria has a lot of challenges that we all know. We are expecting this conference to bring them to the front burner and come up with pragmatic solutions so that next year, we would be able to make comparative analysis of the state of things now and what we have in a new communique,“ said the Country Communication Manager Charles Ebereonwu.

The Chairman Oil Producers Trade Section (OPTS) and Managing Director of ExxonMobil Nigeria, Mr. Paul McGrath was the chairman of the conference that had two panel sessions that critically analysed the Effect of Sanctity of Contracts in Commercial Operations and Commercial Viability in Gas to Power Value Chain.

Other highlights of the conference was the Award for Contribution to Energy Reporting to the NNPC Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division Mr. Ndu Ughamadu and the Lifetime Achievement Award to General Manager, Corporate Communications and Public Relations, Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC), Alhaji Yakubu Lawal.

Earlier in the opening remarks, the Chairman of NAEC, Mr. Olatunde Dodondawa adjudged that the oil and gas and power sector is increasingly being challenged by advancement in technology and, “the outcome of today’s conference will certainly help the government to address the nation’s huge infrastructure deficit, poor investment flow and boost operators commitment.”

NAEC was founded in 1987 to create a platform for Energy correspondents to co-operate, collaborate, share knowledge and competencies in the coverage of the energy sector in and outside Nigeria.