The Minister of state for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, has called for collaboration between Nigeria and Ghana in resolving their common energy issue’s.
This, he said could be achieved under the auspices of the African Petroleum Producers Association, APPO, by working together, sharing experiences and providing common solutions to their energy problems in Africa.
Senator Lokpobiri made the call while declaring open the Nigerian parvallion at the on-going 2025 edition of the Offshore Technology Conference holding in Houston, the United States
The Minister, who commended Ghana’s Minister of Energy and Green Transition, John Jinapor for his country’s achievements in the oil and gas sector, stressed the need for both countries to continue with the existing cordial relationship, even in other sectors.
“We cannot wait for other countries to help us solve our energy problems.. we have to solve it by ourselves. That is why collaboration between both countries and indeed other African countries is very important, so that we can work together and provide common solutions to our energy problems in the continent”, Lokpobiri said.
” We are willing to share our experiences with Ghana, so that it does not make the mistakes we made in the past in our oil and gas industry,” he concluded.
The Minister noted that funding had been the bane of the oil and gas sector in Africa, which according to him, the western world usually take advantage off.
He, however, said the African Energyy Bank, with its headquarters in Abuja, billed to commence operations in the third quarter of this year, the problem of inadequate funding in the oil and gas sector would soon be a thing of the past.
The African Energy bank, established through partnership between APPO and AFREXIMBANK, is to take off with an initial capital of 19 billion dollars.
The Nigerian Oil Minister, therefore, called on other African countries to invest in the Energy Bank to ensure adequate funding in the oil and gas sector in Africa.
Earlier, the Chairman of PETAN, Engr. Wole Ogunsanya thanked the Minister of petroleum and his counterpart in the gas sector as well as other participants for attending this year’s OTC for which PETAN is the principal organiser on behalf of the Nigerians government.
He outlined the achievements of PETAN, especially in the area of local content and assured that this year’s edition of OTC will be an improvement on previous ones.
He thanked the Nigerian government for its Continous support over the years and other sponsors for their confidence in the ability of PETAN to deliver.
Engr Ogunsanya also commended Members of the association for not relenting in their good works over the years.
There were goodwill messages from the Chaimen of both House Committees of the National Assembly and other prominent dignitaries that attended the event.
Highpoint of the event was the cutting of the tape, signifying the commencement of the Nigerian parvallion in the conference.
The OTC is a yearly event in Houston, where the latest technologies in the oil and Gas industry is been showcased.
