How can Nigeria build resilience in the face of fluctuating oil prices and global energy transition?
I think we should build resilience by diversifying the economy so we can look towards other non-petroleum sectors like manufacturing, technology, and even agriculture. Another thing that will also help is to improve our exchange rate flexibility to help soften the impact of external shocks and build external reserves. Then, we should look at the current climate in terms of going green. If we, as an organisation, and also Nigeria, can start developing projects on renewable energy, that would be a good way for us to build resilience. That way, as we are transitioning from a fuel-based economy to renewables, we will also have the advantages of early adopters and people who will make grounds in renewable energy. As an organisation, we are forward-looking; so, we already have an arm called New X that deals with renewable energy, so that will foster on us the advantages of early adopters.

How do you think Nigerians can adopt renewable energy more?
We can do a lot of advocacy. We need to work with regulators like Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission (NUPRC). They will have to do a lot of programmes to enlighten people and also, they will build the right regulations to ensure the shift from fuel-based economy to renewables. They also need to ensure that they incentivise private investors. That way, it would encourage people to move into renewable energy. Also, there should be a drive for public-private partnerships so that private individuals can go into renewables, and the government can encourage them by giving them grants, subsidies, tax rebates, tax breaks, regulatory concessions and carbon credits to ensure people get involved.

You spoke about how Nigeria can navigate fluctuating oil prices; how is your organisation navigating fluctuating oil prices and global energy transition to ensure operational stability?
For us as an organisation, we are diversifying; we operate all through the hydrocarbon value chain; we do operations in the upstream sector, and we are also involved in midstream and downstream sectors. For upstream, we do exploration and production of oil and gas; in midstream, we have a gas processing plant, while in the downstream sector, we have a pipeline for crude transportation and evacuation.

Also, as an organisation, we are also looking towards other ways of harnessing crude oil potential, like modular refineries. We are also exploring strategic alliances with other organisations and people who are interested in investing in the hydrocarbon value chain.

In terms of turnaround, can you share specific strategies or projects that can drive operational turnaround for most companies, or the strategies your company has been able to project to drive turnaround, especially in optimising underperforming oil fields?
In terms of underperforming oil fields, there are many things we need to do. We need to ensure cost efficiency, ensure financial and fiscal discipline because for you to have a turnaround, these are strategies that you have to put in place to ensure that those assets that are not performing well actually have a turnaround and become profitable.

So, for us, we implement Wells and Reservoir Management (WRM). We regularly simulate our reservoirs because as we are producing, we are also adding to the reserves. So those are ways that, as an organisation, we ensure that we remain profitable.

Benchmarking is also another operational strategy that helps in improving competitiveness. If after you have done all of this, you see that there are some assets that are non-performing, you diversify those assets so that instead of you incurring more cost on them, you actually get money off them.

So, what strategies has Pan Ocean implemented to lead operational transformation, oil exploration and production? And also, how have these strategies impacted the Nigerian energy landscape?
For us as an entity, we foster an environment of collaboration where even though you and other oil companies are competitors in the petroleum landscape, there are also some areas where you can collaborate. We do a lot of that; we have a gas plant currently that we are running with NNPC E&P. We also have some other joint ventures that we operate with other oil companies. Then digital transformation is also very important; we don’t want to make wild guesses and guesstimates. So right now, we want to make data-driven decisions. We have developed a couple of Applications in-house, which we are using for data gathering and analytics.

We also do a lot of investment in infrastructure. As you invest in infrastructure and expand production, you have to also ensure that you invest in securing those assets. Here in the Niger Delta, pipeline vandalism and crude oil theft have been on the increase; we are doing a lot as an organisation to ensure that we protect our pipeline assets so that crude oil thieves are not able to get them compromised.

As an asset manager, how can asset optimisation be prioritised to maximise value from existing oil fields while reducing operational costs in a challenging market?
In a challenging market, benchmarking is critical to your operations. Right now, we have a pool of assets that are striving for the same resources, hence, the need to be efficient in our operations. Operations excellence cannot be overemphasised. So, what you do is you ensure as much as possible to maximise every value that you get; you benchmark so that your prices are competitive, and that way you also try as much as possible to reduce your cost of production.

We have a gas processing plant at Oghara. In 2009, Pan Ocean became one of the few companies to sign on to the Carbon Credits Scheme offered by the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) in the Kyoto Protocol and currently remains the largest registered carbon-emission reduction project in West Africa.

That shows that as an organisation, we are actually very interested in going green and we recently commissioned a Vapor Recovery Unit (VRU) Compressor, which helps us to utilise flared gas. The gas that we are supposed to flare, we compress it and send to the gas plant for further processing, thereby achieving flare-out in that facility. At the gas plant, the wet gas is stripped into its various components and we have products such as LPG, Propane, Condensate, etc. LPG is what we use as cooking gas; Propane is a feedstock in the drugs and petrochemical industry while Condensate is a feedstock for modular refineries.
I am happy to inform you that my facility, Obi AnyimaFlowstation in OML 147, was adjudged one of the greenest facilities in Nigeria because we have been able to achieve a flare-out.

Talking about gas flaring, how effective has the Nigerian government’s gas flare commercialisation programme been in reducing gas flaring since its introduction? And what additional policies or incentives would you suggest to ensure Nigeria meets its gas flaring reduction by 2030?
Gas flaring is something that has been on for a while, and also, for you to eliminate flares, you need to invest a lot in infrastructure and capital projects. The huge capital outlay is a deterrent to prospective investors because you will have to invest in gas processing and gas pipelines.

For an environment like Nigeria, where we have changing policies, that is something not encouraging private individuals to want to go into it. If we want to make progress here, the government will have to ensure that they have policies that will encourage private individuals to come in. They will also incentivise them so that they can have tax breaks, rebates and holidays, and also give them incentives like carbon credits. Also, the Petroleum Industry Act is something that is helping to create awareness in the populace.

With a global emphasis on sustainability, how is your company integrating environmental and social governance principles into its exploration and production strategies?
We are doing that very well. We are not just only financially driven, we are also ensuring that we protect the environment, and we also ensure that good corporate governance drives our operations. So, it’s balanced for us. Also, we are also ensuring that for every asset, we have initiatives that will drive ESG. There was a time we did a campaign on tree planting. In all our assets, we ensured that we planted trees that will help in terms of decarbonisation. Also, some facilities, like my neighbouring facility, OML 152, instead of using PMS to run their operations (like accommodation, etc), they are solar-driven. That also helps us to ensure that we protect the environment.

What proactive measures has the organisation adopted to mitigate geopolitical, environmental, and market risks while ensuring sustainable exploration and production activities in the country?
Crude oil is explored mainly in the Niger Delta and here in the Niger Delta, we are having a lot of issues around security. So, that’s something that has caused us a lot of problems. We have tried as much as possible to do local sourcing so it eliminates geopolitical exposures.

We also try as much as possible to improve energy efficiency. That is something that we all need to adopt so that there are no wastages and that way, it can also help us to now rely less on petrol-driven engines. For example, we significantly reduced the quantity of flared gas as a result of commissioning the Vapor Recovery Unit.