Ministry fixs June 6 for 2021 NIPS
BY DOOSUUR IWAMBE
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, has announced June 6 as new date for the 2021 Nigerian International Petroleum Summit (NIPS).
He made the announcement during a special video broadcast on a national television station.
Accordibg to the broadcast which was also shared by the Petroleum Ministry’s official social media handles, the minister disclosed that the ministry had to re-consider the dates in light of the current global pandemic.
He said, “the COVID-19 pandemic has indeed engulfed the global economy especially the oil and gas industry.
‘’The global level travel bans along with grounding of international flights led to heavy reduction in consumption of aviation fuel across the globe.
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‘’Partial and complete lockdown strategy which was used to deal with the pandemic further curtailed industrial and commercial activities thereby reducing consumption of fuel further and pushing the oil prices down to $23.36 at a point.
“Let us all, therefore, come together under the platform of NIPS 2021 in our quest to return to the attractive industry performance that lifted the entire economy over the years,” Sylva added.
James Shindi, Managing Director, Brevity Anderson, event producers of NIPS said “economies are going through challenging times and one of the sectors that has witnessed significant challenges is the oil sector, globally and in Africa.”
Shindi posited that the evolving economic situation and challenges could provide an opportunity for African oil-producing countries to explore how economies can be diversified away from reliance on oil; maximise the local value-added of the oil; increase cross-border trade and investment between African countries and engender creativity through expanding deployment of renewables in the power sector.
The scope of NIPS 2021 has been expanded to incorporate the latest industry trends and topical issues that are at the forefront of every energy leader’s agenda.
It has also become the platform for industry players for the public and private sectors to interact, transact and develop agenda for government and support Nigeria’s role in galvanising other global players in addressing challenges in the industry.
With the full backing of the Federal Government of Nigeria, NIPS has over the past three editions, witnessed the highest level of attendance by top decision-makers, industry leaders and all stakeholders from both the public and private sectors.
