‘Controlled cast, corporate governance will keep Nigerian oil sector competitive’

Stakeholders in the oil and gas industry say for Nigeria to survive the current storm of low oil price and be competitive, it must meet certain conditions.
The conditions, according to former deputy director Shell Producing and Development Company (SPDC), Egbert Imomoh, there should be entrenched and strong corporate governance ethics; simple standardisation to help reduce cost, and enforcement of quick contracting processes.
Other conditions listed include collaboration among different indigenous oil companies, which present an opportunity to reduce cost; address contracting hiccups to ease business transaction and technological Innovation, which should be the driving force to effective operation.
Imomoh in his presentation at the 41 edition of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, Nigeria Annual International Conference and Exhibition (NAICE 2017) in Lagos Wednesday, said “it is imperative that the country ensures that production that have been developed should be produced,” adding that a situation where fields that were already developed were capped because of bureaucratic delays from the government was killing and should not be allowed to continue.
In his summation during a panel session on the topic Impact of Cycle of Oil and Gas Boom and Glut: Economic Imperatives and Opportunities, he said the country must continue to see how it could add local value to production by upgrading the refineries to make them productive.
Nigeria’s three refineries are currently not producing at their optimum capacity to meet the countries local petroleum products demand, which has necessitated the importation of petroleum products by Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
He commended the Federal Government for the policy on the ease of doing business. However he opined that such gesture should not only apply to investors coming into Nigeria, but should also be extended to indigenous Nigerian companies who also need relieve from issues like multiple taxation and delay in contracting cycle.
Cecilia Agua Umoru, managing director, Millennium Oil and Gas Company Limited, said it was imperative that Nigeria begin to think long term and how through the right policy could reshape the industry to remain relevant.
According to Umoru, “We need a solution that allows us to leap frog several stages. The sad thing is that apart from going through an economic crisis, Nigeria is also going through a crisis of values in oil and gas industry.”
She observed that high ethical standard from the basis is an important factor to practice by oil companies as this will help to control cost saying that it is easier to control cost where there is high ethical standards.

“There is need to apply innovation in project financing by creatively partnering with financial institutions. There is also the idea of developing multiple product streams like refining and gas utilisation.”
Umoru further said that Oil and Gas companies must go out of their way to create strong relationship with their host communities. This is the time to firm up your memorandum of understanding.
She tasked indigenous companies to consider collaborative with oil serving companies locally rather than engage foreign ones because they are more considerate in the terms that they give to fellow indigenous firms.
On his part, Wumi Iledare, said it is imperative that the Federal Government sees it as her responsibility to do a business governance structure to ensure an enabling environment that will help attract the needed investment to ensure oil gas businesses thrive.

OLUSOLA BELLO, FRANK UZUEGBUNAM AND KELECHI EWUZIE