By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has taken steps to entice some Chinese investors to partner in its Research and Development (R&D) venture especially amidst volatility in crude oil prices in the international market.
This, it explained, is part of the need to seek a fortune in non-core oil sector to stay afloat.
NNPC Chief Operating Officer in charge of Ventures, Dr Babatunde Adeniran, who declared this recently at the 10th edition of the Annual Sub-Saharan Africa Oil and Gas Conference in Houston, Texas, affirmed that response from the Chinese prospects had been favourable.
Dr Adeniran said in addition to the Chinese who were being invited to partner with NNPC in Research and Development, NNPC had also flung its dragnet wide open to let in American investors too.
He said there had been low investment in Industry R & D in Sub-Sahara Africa, necessitating NNPC’s commitment to key in to maximize available opportunity in the subsector, and further outlined other non-core oil and gas sectors that are of interest to NNPC to include: healthcare, shipping as well as telecommunications.
Dr Adeniran, who made a presentation alongside other West African Industry Stakeholders at the conference said NNPC had 52 clinics across Nigeria, a healthcare investment which he observed, fewer establishments could boast of.
“NNPC Medical is already talking to top class medical centres across the world for partnership. Billions of dollars went into medical tourism in Nigeria yearly. NNPC is poised to take advantage of the gaps in the healthcare delivery in Nigeria,” he said.
From 2014 to 2016, the global oil and gas industry has witnessed a precipitous dip in crude oil prices, bringing in its wake, more than 25 per cent drop in global spend on exploration and production. The slum has been attributed mostly to excess in supply of the black gold.
Dr Adeniran enjoined oil companies worldwide to think outside the box to fix challenges currently plaguing the industry.
To weather the storm in the current dispensation, Dr Adeniran, said oil companies must re-think the essence of their business and their role in the value chain, while demonstrating astuteness in spotting and capturing business opportunities in ancillary services, among others.
He added that oil companies, at a time like this, must prioritize profitable growth to guard against dissipating valuable resources and energies on developing unprofitable assets, adding that the current situation in the industry also required that the workforces are flexible to navigate the new era of volatility.
Dipo Olowookere 
Adedapo Adesanya