DPR mulls economic recovery programme for petroleum industry

The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) says it is formulating a maximum economic recovery (MER) programme, aimed at strengthening the oil and gas industry.

Sarki Auwalu, DPR director, announced this on Tuesday at the 2021 Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Nigeria Annual International Conference and Exhibition (NAICE), held in Lagos.

Auwalu said the industry initiative was one of the outcomes of the work of the National Oil and Gas Excellence Centre (NOGEC), Lagos which was inaugurated in January by President Muhammadu Buhari.

“Following an in-depth assessment of the status of the industry, the department identified the need to formulate the ‘Maximum Economic Recovery (MER) strategy for Nigeria,” NAN quoted him as saying.

“This is to guarantee the actualisation of sustainable resource optimisation and the economic benefits arising therefrom.”

Auwalu said the objectives outlined in the MER include reserves maturation and production optimisation; exploration and resources maturation.

Others are improved oil recovery and enhanced oil recovery; implementation asset stewardship; performance evaluation and rewards risk management.

According to him, the draft framework has been shared with the industry, including professional associations like the SPE and the National Association of Petroleum Explorationists.

He said this was in preparation for an industry collaborative workshop to co-develop and enunciate this strategy for immediate execution.

Auwalu said Nigeria was rising to the occasion as the ‘trigger’ for continental growth and economic transformation using its oil and gas resources to drive value for national development.

He said the DPR would continue to foster innovative ideas and create opportunities for investments and sustainability in the industry.

“As always, we are enthusiastic to collaborate with all relevant stakeholders, including the SPE, toward the realisation of governments aspirations for the oil and gas sector,” the DPR director explained.

“In our role as business enablers and opportunity providers, DPR will continue to promote efficiency to meet the needs of the industry, creating value, enhancing transparency, reducing barriers and transaction costs.”