<p>As the Oil and Gas industry progresses a modest recovery from one of the more prolonged downturns in recent times, operators have begun cautiously rebuilding their drilling program inventory and rig activity levels. </p>



<p>The long-established African oil and gas producers are managing two distinct challenges at either end of the production spectrum: 1) increasingly complex and expensive new developments, and 2) low value depleted fields under late life investment or disposal.</p>



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<p>In Nigeria for instance, data from the Department of
Petroleum Resources paints a gloomy expose, indicating that the nation’s crude
oil reserves of about 37 billion barrels, two per cent of which is being
produced annually, will be depleted in 49 years. The reserves which stood at
37.45 billion barrels in 2014, fell to 37.06 billion barrels in 2015 and 36.74
billion barrels in 2016. It, however, rose to 36.97 billion barrels in 2017 and
37 billion barrels in 2018, the DPR data showed. The reserves depletion rate is
a measure of 2018 total oil and condensate production divided by the reserves
as of January 1, 2019, according to the DPR.</p>



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<p>Last week, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources,
Chief Timipre Sylva, sounded the alarm bell saying the nation’s oil sector has
worsened as the uncertain fiscal environment put a damper on the investments
badly needed to ramp up oil production and increase reserves.</p>



<p>These worrisome concerns were the engaging issues in a
two-day IADC Africa 2020 Drilling Conference and Exhibition, held on the 18th
and 19th February in Accra, Ghana. </p>



<p>The ; International
Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC), a non-profit organization, as part
of its 80th anniversary, embarked on a holistic overview of ; the increasing complexity around Oil &;
Gas operations coupled with volatile oil prices which has continued to bring
about fast-paced market changes from the prolific northern countries like
Egypt, Algeria and Libya, to the more mature oil and gas markets in the western
part of the continent like Nigeria, Angola and Ghana, all the way to the
eastern side, including Kenya, Uganda, Mozambique and Tanzania where oil and
gas exploration is still emerging.</p>



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<p>At the conference, the drilling contractors community
asserted opinions and ; explored all
aspects of drilling operations in vital regions, including ultra-Deepwater,
sub-salt, emerging markets, HPHT, re-entry drilling for gas redevelopment,
underbalanced and managed pressure operations, community development, training
and competency, workforce development, logistics and security.</p>



<p>The association reckoned that in addition to multiple
opportunities and challenges unique to Africa, many parts of the continent will
struggle to grow or even maintain their economies in the face of declining oil
and gas revenues. At the same time, pressure on performance of the drilling
sector will surely intensify.</p>



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<p>But to Hisham Zebiam, Vice President, Eastern Hemisphere,
IADC, this is a misconception which should be corrected. The truth, according
to him, “Hydrocarbons power our homes, our vehicles, and our lives. No feasible
alternatives exist for vital petroleum products including petrochemicals and
lubricants. We have increasingly seen developments in carbon capture
technology, taking emitted carbon to be sequestered or used in a company’s
operations.” </p>



<p>Mr. Zebiam said “Oil and gas provide two-third of the
energy consumed in the USA. Global oil and gas consumption are expected to grow
significantly in the coming decades, particularly in the developing world. Oil
and gas energize lives and are vital to economic and population growth.” ; </p>



<p>The Eastern Hemisphere Vice President supported his
argument with increasing demand figures. </p>



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<p>According to him, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics,
the U.S. Oil &; Gas Extraction (Mining) industry will need to hire 45,000
additional workers (and replace all workers that leave the industry) in order
to sustain industry growth through 2028. In addition, he said “India’s oil and
gas sector is likely to require around 25,000 additional professionals in the
next five years due to business growth and retirement or attrition in the
sector. This is equivalent to around 48% of the current employee strength. The
upstream sector is expected to see the maximum shortfall, with a requirement
for 7,600 employees in the next five years because of high attrition and
retirement.”</p>



<p>In his update remarks, Chuks Enwereji, Chairman, IADC
Nigeria Chapter, shared these views. To him, the capacity and capability to
“rise, meet these challenges and still embrace fresh opportunities from onshore
to ultra-Deepwater” are fundamental and deserve immediate attention. He
however, literally doused tension and raised optimism to an assuring level
through the Nigerian testimonial.</p>



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<p>He presented that as of last count, rigs in Nigeria have
attained an encouraging level of 38 even as he stated that “2019 ushered
significant increase in work opportunities for drilling contractors and service
companies.”</p>



<p>Association membership size, he stated, has grown from 27
members in 2018 to 38 active members in 2019, representing 41 percent increase.
As a step towards an all-inclusive growth strategy, the association has
consistently kept tab on the operational modes of members by creating “more
collaborating opportunities amongst members including distribution of rig count
information.” Chuks added that the association continues to engage regulatory
agencies in reviewing and solving industry issues where they exist.</p>



<p>However, Mr. Enwereji maintained that these developments
are not without challenges. He solicited for government’s friendly policies and
cautioned on over regulation. He urged members to be more prepared in the
pursuit of innovative strategies in rig operations to stay in business. He
urged the investing international community to show more interest in Nigeria
because according to him, there are still lots of oil and gas opportunities in
the country. </p>



<p>The involvement of Petroleum Engineering students of
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology flows directly with the
association’s belief in building sustainable human resource future for the
industry. Nicholas Kofi, Lead EHS Advisor, Tullow Oil affirmed this belief by
his company’s policy that offers scholarship to students as well as mentorship
program “Catch them young and they will be yours forever,” he said.</p>



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<p>The conference was concluded with a commitment by members
to focus on emerging opportunities in Africa by taking lessons learnt from
advanced producing countries. These lessons will support local content
development as part of measures to mitigate distinct challenges of
complex-expensive new developments and low value depleted fields.</p>



<p>In attendance for this august event were representatives from Nigeria
Department of Petroleum Resources
(DPR),  ;Ghana Petroleum
Corporation, drilling experts from the
United Kingdom, ; United States of
America, The Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Spain,
France, South Africa, Senegal and Luxemburg.</p>

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