The Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN) has raised the alarm that Nigeria has been losing about $15 billion daily to oil under production.

It explained that the country is underproducing to the tune of at least 500,000 barrels per day, which he said was equivalent to $15 billion and hundreds of trillions of naira in excess of the national budget per year.

The Chairman of PETAN, Mr. Wole Ogunsanya, disclosed this in Lagos when the representatives of the Association of Energy Correspondents of Nigeria (NAEC) led by its Chairman, Mr. Ugo Amadi paid PETAN a courtesy, according to a statement on Friday.

He decried that Nigeria is currently losing a lot due to its inability to produce up to its oil production capacity.

He stated that such losses would not have been if there was full in-country retention of values and beneficiation across all the chains of the industry.

In order to retain those values in-country at every stage of the oil and gas process, Ogunsanya said a lot of gaps needed to be filled through government policy initiatives and collaboration with industry stakeholders

He pointed out that the presidency had given the directives and had formulated a lot of gazettes, stating that PETAN aligned with those initiatives.

He promised to support the efforts of the Bola Tinubu-led administration toward increasing Nigeria’s oil and gas production for maximum value.

He said the vision and intention of PETAN was to support the authorities to ensure that all the values existing in the oil industry stay in Nigeria.

He stated that if Nigeria could retain between 60 to 70 per cent of the oil and gas value chain in the country, the nation stood a better chance of emerging as a top 20 economy in the world.

The PETAN chairman also assured NAEC of its commitment to consolidating the long-standing relationship existing between the two bodies.

Ogunsanya said: “Essentially, if Nigerian organisations are involved in taking that oil out, taking it to a refinery owned by Nigerians and refining it. If we have petrochemicals refining the gas and the product, we are taking that gas, we are processing it in power plants, we run pipelines to connect all those power plants, this country will be in the top 20 economies in the world.

“And we believe very strongly that there is no better prescription for Nigeria’s economic solution than that.

“So, what we have is, as we see today, the production is down by at least 500,000 barrels. That 500,000 barrels equates to $15 billion. If you do the maths at today’s rate, you are talking of hundreds of trillions of naira, more than what the national budget per year is.”

He added: “Our intention is to support this government, to support this country to increase production of oil and gas. I presented this vision to the whole house of PETAN exactly a week ago and the vision is very clear. PETAN wants to support Nigeria through innovative means to increase the production of oil and gas in this country.

“That is the mandate that the president has given. PETAN is going to come up with very innovative ideas on how this is going to be achieved and even a low-cost approach that is being used in other countries. If you go to Indonesia where some of us have relationships, this is what they are doing. They are looking inwards on how to maximize returns from the resources that they have.”

Owing to the technical know-how of the members and the unique position of the association, the PETAN boss said they are working with the government to create value for the country.

He said the group’s commitment and response to the president’s mandate of increasing production was for them to be prepared to deploy all their assets at various locations in the Niger Delta to actualise that mandate.

He acknowledged the challenges facing the industry in Nigeria including funding, logistics and others.

He stressed the imperative of collaboration and partnership between PETAN and other critical stakeholders.

Wole maintained that his association cannot make progress with some of its plans without collaborating with either energy correspondents.

He added, “We cannot do without you. Our message cannot resonate and cannot get across without your partnership with us. So, let me assure you that what has happened in the past due to the circumstances of COVID that could have allowed some things to be put on hold will not happen again.

“Essentially, we both need each other. PETAN needs you to tell that story, to sell what PETAN’s vision is in order to help the situation we find ourselves in. And I appreciate your candour in terms of how we’ve supported each other. We are going to support you as PETAN as we have done in the past.”

Source- New Telegraph.