Advanced technologies will be critical if we are dissatisfied with the ever-increasing demand for petroleum. Whether we like it or not, hydrocarbon fuels are not going to go away anytime soon.

This was the submission of the Managing Director of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Dr Joseph Dawha, in his presentation at Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Conference (OPEC) recently in Vienna.

Dawha, attributed the accomplishment of the petroleum industry to technology development in the sector.

According to him, when viewed in the context of historical antecedence and innovation, technology has greatly transformed the nature of the oil and gas industry and dramatically altered the supply geography worldwide.

He added that throughout its history, the oil industry has utilized adopted technologies which have driven oil and gas exploration, development and production to new frontiers.
This success, he added, has powered tremendous global economic growth and has led to an unprecedented rise in living standards around the world.

Dawha stated that innovations in oil and gas technologies had the potential to impact everyone all the time. “It is also pertinent to note that all has not been easy with the deployment of new technology in E&P as projects become more costly and technologically challenging. The deployment of new technology is often viewed as a risk. Of course, it is more risky than the already proven technologies that are in use. The reward for new technology can be very huge because risk is part of our business. We must take risk so that we can make progress,” he professed.

Dawha noted that oil was considerably hard to find, but new technologies and understanding petroleum geology reservoir behaviour were making the ones inaccessible to be accessible.

He stated that non-conventional heavy oil resources had been turned into supplies, due to technological advancement in exploration and production. The involvement of technology had also led to increased recovery in the industry’s activities.

He said that though rates of recovery in different oil fields vary extensively, overall they continue to rise through the application of new technologies and better reservoir management techniques.