Dr Mayowa Afe, OGTAN
President, Oil and Gas Trainers Association of Nigeria (OGTAN), Dr Mayowa Afe, has said that the association will soon start construction of its training institute in Bayelsa State to develop capacity in the sector.
He disclosed this in an interview with Energy Correspondents at the just concluded Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) holds in Houston Texas, U.S.A.
He said that the Gov. Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa had allocated the association a land with the Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) to commence construction.
He said that the governor gave the allocation order during his visit to the just concluded Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston, Texas.
The independent umbrella group of training services providers in the oil and gas industry was established by the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act in 2010 with the purpose of building local human capacity.
According to the president, OGTAN made a request to the governor and he ordered immediately for the allocation of the land with Certificate of Occupancy.
“His Excellency has urged the association to go back to the state and claimed the land.
“We already have a base in Bayelsa State, now to build a training platform where we can train our people from Bayelsa,’’ he said.
Afe, however, highlighted the need for oil companies and government institutions to collaborate with the association to ramp up local human capacity development in the oil and gas industry.
He said that the capital flight in the industry would be substantially reduced by utilising local capacity.
“We act as business group that interface with operators, international organisations and the Nigerian government.
“We would like to call on all oil companies in Nigeria and government institutions to collaborate and work with OGTAN in planning and executing their training in line with the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act.
Afe said that the association works with critical stakeholders like the Nigeria Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), International Oil Companies (IOCs), among others to build capacity for members.
He said that the association had been in discussion with the management of Bank of Industry (BoI) to attract funds for OGTAN members on capacity building that would expose their expertise.
“Our members need to develop human capacity and building infrastructure that will expose them internationally through workshops and seminars.
“OGTAN has received great support from NCDMB. We bring our members to the international workshop to expose them to international opportunities.
“Most of the IOCs have been of great support of capacity building to their staff,’’ he said.
The president said that Chevron, Total and AGIP managements had given OGTAN some of its staff to work with OGTAN on full time bases to develop a robust categorisation scheme for workers.
He said that this would increase the number of jobs that would be retained in the country and also reduce job description that would go out of Nigeria.
“This will be achieved with the full participation of IOCs and NCDMB joint’s effort system to complete some jobs in-country.
Independent marketers urge NNPC to supply kerosene to western depots
The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has appealed to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation ( NNPC), to make kerosene supply available in western depots to reduce the suffering of masses during Ramadan period.
Alhaji Debo Ahmed, the Chairman, IPMAN western zone made the appeal in Lagos.
Ahmed said that marketers operating from the five depots which comprises of the western depots, Mosinmi, Ejigbo, Ilorin, Ore and Ibadan had not received kerosene product for a long period due to distribution challenges.
He said that the product which remains the best option of the common Nigerians to be use during the fasting period would go a long way to address their hardship is made available at depot for marketers.
According to him, independent marketers will ensure efficient distribution of the product in all retails outlets across the south-west region if made available at the depots to prevent scarcity.
Ahmed said that only few service stations and private depots had kerosene at a very high price to the final consumers.
“NNPC has not supply depots with kerosene supply for long time. We are appealing to them to please give us kerosene so that we could also distribute the product.
“NNPC should give us kerosene so that the supply chain could be consistent, since this product is used in almost every home.
“We are saying that if NNPC imports it should give the kerosene to all those running retail outlets, major marketers, independent marketers and depot owners, so that we could distribute to the final consumers at affordable price,’’Ahmed advised.
He urged the government to come to the aid of masses who could not afford the price of cooking gas by providing kerosene to the depots so that it would be available in the filling stations.
“This is not the right time for our refineries to stop kerosene production, everybody cannot depend on gas.
“The common man cannot afford the price of cylinder and cooking gas. Our mothers in the village depend on kerosene, an essential household commodity to cook.
“Government should not just sit down watching the masses suffering, they should address the issue and make the product available,” he said.
The IPMAN chairman, however, urged the corporation to expedite the rehabilitation of Ore and Ilorin depots to ease petroleum distribution within the axis.
He said that restoration of operations at the depots became necessary to reduce the stress of marketers going to Lagos depots to load which, he said, posed serious risks and additional charges.
He said Ilorin and Ore depots that had about 20 million litres of storage capacity, had been moribund for over ten years.
Ahmed said that the supply of products to these depots had been a serious challenge over the years, impacting negatively on the operations of marketers.
He urged the management of NNPC to intensify efforts on the rehabilitation to boost the distribution network in the regions to address the shortage in the hinterlands.
