23 July 2014, Lagos – Some concerned stakeholders in the Nigerian oil and gas industry have expressed concern over the nation’s depleting crude oil reserve.
The stakeholders expressed their concern in separate interviews, Tuesday, with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
Mr Simon Linus, an Energy Consultant, urged the Federal Government to renew the call for creative ways of halting rising oil theft and illegal refining.
Linus, who is also the Managing Director, Dizlop Energy Ltd., said that the country needed to boost exploration to augment the dwindling reserves.
According to him, the country’s oil reserve is gradually dropping and output is also dwindling.
“The only way to correct the abnormalities is through exploration. There is need for more wells to be drill to beef-up the oil reserve,” he said.
Simon said that the country needed more modern drilling technology equipment such as the 4D seismic to explore wells.
According to him, government should come up with strategies to boost the reserves and in due course this we change the mind set of investors.
The energy consultant advised government to encourage and increase the participation of indigenous companies in exploration and production.
He said that for government to continue to meet its oil production targets, there was need to grow the country’s declining crude oil reserve base.
Linus said that the country must do everything to increase its reserves, noting that more seismic data coverage and drilling of exploration wells must be done.
“In 2003, about 24 marginal field licences was awarded as part of the government’s quest to ensure rapid involvement of Nigerian companies in the nation’s crude oil exploration and production.
“Government also awarded a total of 77 oil blocks through three bid rounds in 2005, 2006 and 2007,” he added.
Linus said that only eight of the 24 awarded marginal field licences had been able to go into production 10 years after being licensed which was also part of the contributing factors to the country’s oil depleting status.
– NAN