By Dipo Olowookere
Managing Director/Chief Executive of Total E&P Nigeria Limited, Mr Mike Sangster, has assured Nigeria of his company’s willingness to remain in the country and further expand its operations because of the faith the firm has in the nation.
In recent times, oil giants have been reducing their investments in the sector and in Nigeria, few of them have indicated their readiness to selloff their investments in the country’s oil and gas sector as the demand and push for cleaner energy continue to grow.
Few days ago, Mr Sangster led a delegation of his company to the office of the Director of Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Mr Sarki Auwalu, in Abuja.
He said Total Nigeria will increase its investment in Nigeria from its current global ranking of over 10 percent in E&P investments and to cope with current business opportunities in the nation’s oil and gas sector.
The Total chief also disclosed that approximately 65 percent of Nigerians were currently engaged at different levels with Total overseas, which makes it a highly beneficial resource for the company and Nigeria in general.
He said the firm will continue to collaborate with the DPR to consolidate on the success of two of its FPSO’s
Usan and the Egina project which was concluded in 2018 with current production of over 600,000 bpd.
Also speaking at the event, Mr Auwalu reassured the oil firm of the agency’s willingness to further strengthen their partnership at various levels of mutual interest.
He commended Total Nigeria for the aggressive but subtle business approach. He also lauded the firm for its human capital development initiatives for relevant stakeholders in the industry.
The DPR chief urged the company to do more in this regard and challenged them to take full advantage of the increased business opportunities in the Nigerian oil and gas value chain.
Adedapo Adesanya