Abuja – Stakeholders in the oil sector in Africa say there is a bright future for the industry, in spite of the fall in the global price of crude oil.
Nathalie Bingangoye, Administrative and Financial Director, Garbon Oil Company (GOC) and Sunday Ojiakor, Regional Manager, A-Z Oil, an indigenous company, raised the hope in their stands at the on-going 6th African Petroleum Congress and Exhibition (CAPE VI) in Abuja.
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According to Bingangoye, the CAPE IV will proffer solutions to the problems in the oil sector and position Africa as major players in the international market.
“We are here in the conference to find some solution, a global solution for Africa. This will be at the end of the conference,’’ she said.
The GOC Executive said her organisation entered into the oil business only four years ago but was willing to develop following the experiences of older players such as the Nigeria National Petroleum Company (NNPC).
“My company is the national oil company of Gabon which came into existence four years ago.
“We are attending this conference because Gabon is a member of the Africa Petroleum Producers Association (APPA) and the conference was in Gabon three years ago.
“So, we honoured Nigeria by coming here with a large delegation, including officials of the oil company and the oil ministry also.’’
The executive also hailed the Nigerian hospitality and readiness for hosting the conference, saying “the people of Nigeria are very nice; the country is clean and we were well received.’’
Ojiakor also said that oil market “has a future because day-to-day we have tripled the use of vehicles in the past two years.
“Everybody is going into technology and nobody wants to trek anymore; for one not to trek, one must either own a car or enter a car; so the industry has a wide range of markets,’’ he said.
Ojiako said his company was glad to be part of the conference but suggested that the conference should find solutions to the foreign sourcing of raw materials for the production of lubricants on the continent.
He attributed the high cost of lubricants to the rise in the cost of the raw materials, adding that most of the components used in the manufacture of the product were imported.
“As dollar increases, the prices will be affected,’’ he said.
A-Z Oil produces wide range of engine oils for cars, motorcycles and marine vehicles as well as industrial gear oil, greases, hydraulics and refrigeration oil, among others.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the CAPE IV has the theme: “Positioning African petroleum for global development and value addition.’’
The maiden edition of the conference held in Tripoli, Libya in 2003; the second in Algiers, Algeria in 2005 while the third took place in Cotonou, Benin Republic, in 2007.
The fourth and fifth took place in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, in 2009 and Libreville, Gabon in 2012, respectively.
CAPE is the continent’s most strategic Oil and Gas meeting which comes as the APPA initiative to offer a unique platform of opportunities to share expertise, discuss strategies and opportunities for developing oil activities.
It is also intended to build relationships and ties between decision makers and professionals in the oil sector.(NAN)
