14 March 2014, Abuja – Worried by the degree of environmental degradation suffered as a result of oil exploration in the Niger Delta areas, the Federal Government has taken a drastic step to compel companies involved in the oil and gas exploration to adhere to rules and regulations of safe environment in the future.
Vice President, Arch. Namadi Sambo who stated this at the 2014 Nigeria Annual Oloibiri lecture and energy forum organised by Society of Petroleum Engineers in Abuja, said oil and gas exploration has left the country with a lot of challenges, especially, in the area of environment.
Arch. Namadi, who called on the stakeholders in the sector to draw from the successes and lessons learnt from the exploration of oil and gas in the last century to shape and enhance the future of oil and gas industry in Nigeria.
The Vice President who was represented by the Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Andrew Yakubu, at the lecture with the theme, ‘Oil and Ggas in a Century of Nigeria’sExistence: Sstatus and Outlook,’ said, however, that oil and gas has brought great developments to the country.
According to him: “While oil and gas has brought great developments to our nation, it has also been accompanied by some challenges, principal of which is concern for the environment. It is my belief that the most profitable companies in the future will be those that can develop oil and gas resources in an environmentally friendly and socially manner.
He said: “Global energy demand continues to rise and so is supply. There are many new discoveries everyday in different parts of the globe, in traditional plays and most recently, shale, so called unconventional plays. The dynamics of oil demand and supply is changing rapidly, bringing new challenges to meeting the ever growing world’s energy needs.
“Our nation Nigeria has played a key role in meeting this energy demand in the last century and will continue to do so in the future. Oil and gas activities in Nigeria have now extended into the deep offshore environment, as well as into deeper highly pressured hard rock reservoirs, so called deep drilling, and Nigeria will most likely join the Shale gas revolution in the next decade.”
– Vanguard