NAPE Holds 35th Annual International Conference and Exhibition

The Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE) will next month in Lagos deliberate on major critical issues in a quest to address the challenges in the Nigerian Energy industry.

According to Abiodun ADESANYA, the president of the association, he said, Nigeria currently maintains an economically unstable negative net energy trade balance in which the nation exports virtually all the crude oil produced and imports a substantial part of its refined petroleum products needs while under-utilizing other energy sources such as bitumen, coal, lignite, and shale oil, thereby leading to a mono commodity economy that is largely dependent on crude oil export.

“Against the backdrop of low oil price, dwindling oil revenue, there have been strident calls for the nation to diversify her economy from the monolithic economy and absolute dependence on oil into other areas to sustain the nation in terms of revenue generation”

The association which has as its theme “A Roadmap for Nigeria’s Oil and Gas Industry in a Diversifying Economy said the event will feature a Panel of discussants comprised of: Funsho kupolokun, former Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC); Lai Fatona, FNAPE, Managing Director, Niger Delta Exploration & Production Plc.;  Razak Shittu, General Manager , UBA Energy Bank; and   Anibor kragha, Chief Operating Officer,-Refineries, NNPC.

The conference and exhibition which comes up at Eko  Hotels & Suites, Victoria Island Lagos, will also throw its searchlight on survival strategies for petroleum exploration and exploitation in a challenging environment and also examine the effectiveness in the existing policies to drive growth in the oil and gas industry so as to come up with initiatives for the development of road maps and new policy initiatives

The inevitable slowing down of the economy occasioned by the adverse crude oil prices regime still persists. Before Nigeria officially acknowledged we are in a recession, low oil prices had resulted in the slowdown in projects as well as the stopping of exploration activity in some fields. In the upstream, there had been a sharp cut-back in projects with companies instead, focusing on short term activities and production sustenance.

While this years’ Pre-Conference workshop holds on Thursday November 9, 2017 and has the theme “Transforming Nigeria’s Oil and Gas Industry to Meet Global Demand-Supply Realities”. With several speakers of high repute expected to  participate.