Editor’s Clear Perspective

Afam Paulkinson Umeano – Editor

Yes, We Are!

It’s been a theatre of fear and trepidation in the oil and gas business these past couple of years. That describes the unprecedented adverse era that lingered in the Nigeria Energy sector which ushered severe capital flight, divestments, inflation, power supply decline and a deeply-felt recession, among others.

Insecurity with a proliferation of attacks on energy facilities in the oil producing region climaxed the orchestrated global oil price crash now dovetailing into a renewed global threat to oil relevance. The era could not be eclipsed!

At a point, some companies foreclosed, others divested, and more downsized or got enmeshed in debts or a combination. Yet, there were those who, though shaken, were not taken, but rather took the opportunity to prove their resilience and to strategically reposition. Few even emerged award-winning champions amid the imbroglio that characterized the now seemingly fading era.

As fortune favours the bold, tenacity and commitment makes challenges, however big, seem mere hurdles and obstacles to be overcome in the race to success.

A shimmer of light came with the engagement by the government with the militants which enabled a raise in crude production volumes and export, especially as price began a slow steady climb.

The era coincided with change of guards in various government units, including energy institutions and agencies. The daunting scenario induced conscious reforms across the sector, especially the reinvigoration initiative issuing from the top man in the energy value chain, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, the Hon. Minister of State for Petroleum. Some of the newly appointed regulatory heads commenced various reforms to steer their ship through the turbulence. The NCDMB and NNPC bosses as well as some others embarked on some forms of repositioning. NCDMB, led by Engr. Simbi Wabote, is already showing a very encouraging scorecard after one year of activating its reform package. Energy sectorial groups, professional bodies and associations also began refocusing and or reinventing themselves at various levels

This special report debuts with a tribute to the outstanding industry players and heroes, who, despite the overwhelming temptation to quit the kitchen when the heat became clearly exacerbated, stood firm. NOGSpeed is a window to peep into the tenacity of the players in continuing the production of oil and gas; a kaleidoscope of success stories as the Nigerian economy exits recession. It is a sort of roll call of who is where, doing or offering what in the industry, at a time like now. It is intended as a quarterly industry review and projections to inspire the industry we all love and depend on for sustenance, at least for now. In other words, NOGSpeed intends to do the PR work of the industry, to say to the world that, “We Are” and elicit, “Yes, you Are!” answer from the world in terms of perception, value and investments.

It is a forerunner to the upcoming Nigeria Oil & Gas Roundtable Series (NOGSeries): a series of consistent confabs that will aggregate the gamut of the industry challenges into clusters and galvanize distinct pragmatic solutions to each of them in proper perspective.

We pray we are able to foot the bill

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Editor: Afam P. Umeano

Research: Becky Martins, Blessing Osuji

Staff Writers: Sebastine Obasi, Michael Eboh

Art & Design: Design Services Bureau Ltd; Amaka Mathias

Relations Consulting: Engr. Charles Iloegbunam, Kevin Ushi

Initiative/Produced by: The Harry Fame Communications Ltd

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Global crude oil production rankings by volume (2016)

Bbl = Barrels of oil per day                                                                                                                                                    Source: Wikipedia