Buhari to inaugurate NOGEC in Lagos Thursday
TUNDE SHORUNKE
As part of the efforts to boost the operations of the nation’s petroleum sector, President Muhammadu Buhari will on Thursday, January 21, 2021, virtually inaugurate the National Oil and Gas Excellence Centre (NOGEC) in Lagos.
The Head, Public Affairs, Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Paul Osu, on Monday explained that the Director of DPR, Mr Sarki Auwalu who is the chief host, said the centre was structured to drive the three-prong objectives of safety, value and cost efficiency which are critical for oil and gas industry stability, growth and sustainability.
According to him, the centre will afford the Nigerian oil and gas industry the crucial elements for competitive advantage in a changing global energy landscape.
“The integrated centre will also entrench Nigeria’s status as a regional leader and position the nation for significant global impact in the provision value-added services and breakthrough solutions for the industry in years and decades to come,” he said.
Auwalu said the NOGEC complex was structured to house the various flagship centres to comprehensively cover key areas of the industry.
He said the flagship centres were Search, Rescue and Surveillance (SeRAS) Command and Control Centre and National improved Oil Recovery Centre (NIORC).
Others are Oil and Gas Dispute Resolution Centre (DRC), Oil and Gas Competence Development Centre (CDC) and Integrated Data Mining and Analytics Centre (IDMAC).
The DPR boss said: “SeRAS is an industry-wide programme established to enhance safety management, emergency preparedness and response as well as bed space management and logistics services across the industry.
”SeRAS will entrench safe practices, drive cost reduction and improve operational efficiency across the industry.
“The SeRAS Command and Control Centre (CCC) established at the NOGEC Centre, Lagos while two other Rescue Coordination Centres (RCC) will be set up at Osubi and Brass, in the first instance, for effective coverage of areas of operations.”
According to him, the NIORC is established to formulate and implement strategies for improved and enhanced oil recovery methods in the oil and gas industry to achieve maximum production at the lowest possible cost.
“The centre will partner with operators and technology innovators in their research and development efforts for achieving its objectives.
“It will also collaborate with similar international oil and gas regulators in sharing lesson learnt and operational best practices.
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“NIORC will focus on the implementation of a robust national IOR framework to enable the country to optimise its resources as well as create greater opportunities for operators,” he said.
He noted that the Oil and Gas DRC would offer arbitration, mediation and conciliation services for the Industry.
Auwalu said the centre would leverage industry technical experts, Alternative Dispute Resolution Practitioners and resources of the National Data Repository (NDR) to provide fair and balanced resolutions of industry-related disputes from an informed position.
“The DRC is structured to adequately resolve disputes in a manner consistent with regulatory and commercial interests of the Industry.
“This will address suboptimal development of oil and gas assets associated with lingering disputes and the attendant consequences of value erosion in terms of national resource growth, global competitiveness, investment attractiveness, government take and investor’s profitability.”
Auwalu said the Oil and Gas CDC was a world-class centre of excellence that would serve as the innovation hub for the oil and gas industry in Nigeria, and beyond.
“The centre will feature state-of-the-art training facilities, meeting rooms, conferencing, electronic library, digital visualisation centre, and co-working spaces designed to stimulate creative thinking to proffer solutions for the technical and business challenges facing energy sector practitioners.”
