BANYO TEMITAYO
DESPITE the disruptions in the economy and the downturn in the oil and gas industry, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Petroleum Resources generated N2 trillion for Nigeria in 2020.
Director-General, DPR, Sarki Auwalu, who disclosed this in Abuja, on Thursday, at the 2021 Society of Petroleum Engineers Oloibiri Lecture Series, said the Department hoped to surpass the figure in 2021.
The 2021 edition of the OLEF, the 30th in the series, was themed, ‘Operational Excellence and Portfolio Optimization, a way forward for the oil and gas industry post-COVID-19’.
According to the DG, the DPR has grown to become a business enabler for the oil and gas industry in Nigeria.
“Last year alone, we generated over N2 trillion for this country and we intend to exceed this value for this year,” he said.
While noting that the business environment in the industry remained fragile, he urged operators to eliminate inefficiencies by reducing cost, building partnerships and entrenching collaboration in the industry.
Auwalu noted, “Like I usually say to my colleagues, we want more royalties, not penalties; we want to see compliance kudos rather than non-compliance notices; we want to catch our duty holders doing something right not something wrong.
“In fact, our aim is to ensure that regulations and industry guidelines are issued and applied in a manner that reflects good oil field practice, internationally acceptable standards and are responsive to challenging and changing industry dynamics and global realities.”
He stressed that the DPR had consistently exceeded the government’s revenue target by embracing systems and processes that ensured transparency and accountability in oil and gas revenue generation, computation, collection and reconciliation, including legacy debts recovery.
The Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, also reiterated the Federal Government’s commitment to fully deregulating the downstream sector of the petroleum industry with market-driven petrol prices.
Sylva, represented by his Chief of Staff, Moses Olamide, charged SPE members to prepare to play a crucial role in the industry with the expected passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill.
