Nigeria is said to be an attractive investment destination in sub-Sahara Africa despite the fast changing landscape of the global oil and gas industry.
The Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Simbi Wabote, at the BHGE 2018 Annual Meeting in Florence, Italy, while fielding questions at the Ministerial Panel, said Nigeria’s Oil and Gas industry is still very attractive to investment, regardless of various challenges facing the global oil industry since 2014.
Earlier in his opening remarks, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Baker Hughes a GE (BHGE), Lorenzo Simonelli, had highlighted the various challenges, including market volatility, threat of emerging technologies and digitalisation, energy transition to cleaner fuel sources, and the demands of energy affordability, security and sustainability.
Conceding that these challenges are real and enormous, Wabote contended that from an African perspective, “the concern for me is the emergence of artificial intelligence and robotics, and how these impact on people.”
He enjoined international oil companies to pay close attention to this fact as well as environmental stewardship, and charged operators and service companies to avoid the mistakes of the past, and conduct their businesses with transparency.
The Panellists agreed that “meeting the world’s energy needs isn’t going to be easy,” adding that the “changing market realities and constant uncertainties mean that the industry will continue to face pressures from all directions,” making the case for investing smarter ways.
The theme of the Annual Meeting is – “AM 2018 Investing Smarter Ways”, and is one of the most anticipated event in the industry. It brings together global industry leaders to debate key issues, and learn about latest technologies and innovative solutions to operational challenges.
This year’s Ministerial Panel featured: Carlo Calenda, Minister of Economic Development, Italy, Dr. Dawood Nassif, Advisor to Bahrain Oil Minister, and the Executive Secretary of NCDMB.
Original article appeared in the Guardian.
