Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has announced plans to inaugurate an annual award ceremony for companies, projects and individuals that add value to the Nigerian oil and gas industry.
In a statement issued in Lagos by Mr Paul Osu, Head, Public Affairs, DPR, it was disclosed that Mr Sarki Auwalu, the agency’s director, confirmed this development on Monday during a workshop with industry partners.
He said the industry partners at the meeting included exploration and production companies, service companies as well as oil and gas professional bodies.
Mr Auwalu said the Improved Oil Recovery (IOR)/Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) awards were part of deliberate engagements with energy stakeholders to achieve Maximum Economic Recovery (MER) strategies for Nigeria.
He noted that the objective of the MER was to maximise the expected net value of economically recoverable petroleum from Nigeria’s acreages.
Mr Auwalu said the federal government, through the MER strategies, was targeting to increase the nation’s oil reserves from 36.91 billion barrels to 50 billion barrels in the short to midterm.
He said the government was also targeting increasing Nigeria’s proven gas reserves from 206.53 trillion standard cubic feet of gas to 250 trillion standard cubic feet of gas.
According to him, companies, individuals, fields, research institutions and technologies are eligible for the IOR/EOR awards.
Mr Auwalu said: “The criteria for the awards include the implementation of new technology or established technology applied in a new way and smarter work methods and processes.
“Others are; willingness to take risks and outstanding researches.
“Key performance metrics are discovered recoverable resources, cost efficiency, investment value, implementation cycle, production efficiency and decommissioning cost savings.”
He said the industry initiative was one of the outcomes of the work of the National Oil and Gas Excellence Centre, Lagos, inaugurated in January by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The DPR boss noted that significant potential and value still exist in the Nigerian acreages.
“Effective implementation of the MER strategies will deliver greater value overall to all stakeholders.
“DPR will work closely with industry to deliver the MER through collaborations, communication, cooperation and coordination,” Mr Auwalu added.
