NNPC Limited has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Sonatrach, an Algerian National Oil Company, for cooperation in research, development and innovation in the oil and gas sector. NNPC signed the MoU with Sonatrach through its Research, Technology and Innovation (RTI) Division, in collaboration with the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF).
The agreement was signed by NNPC Executive Vice President, Business Services, Sophia Mbakwe and the Managing Director of Sonatrach, Khodjah Mohamed. As stated in a release by the NNPC Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Andy Odeh, last week, the MoU established a formal framework for joint work in research and technology exchange between the two national oil companies.
The agreement took place during the opening ceremony of the 3rd Meeting of the African Petroleum Producers’ Organisation (APPO) Forum for R&D Directors at the PTDF Tower in Abuja, Nigeria. It brought together research and development directors from APPO member countries.
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, represented by former Secretary General of APPO, Omar Farouk Ibrahim, said the forum was one of four measures introduced by APPO to address challenges from the global energy transition, which centre on funding, technology and markets.
“The R&D forum tackles technology and expertise needs, the African Energy Bank addresses funding constraints, and the Central African Pipeline System supports regional oil and gas market integration,” Lokpobiri stated. Earlier in his remarks, Group Chief Executive Officer, NNPC Limited, Bayo Ojulari, represented by the Chief Financial Officer, Adedapo Segun, said research and development must form a central part of the overall strategy in the African oil and gas industry.
Ojulari called for research and development centres to function as engines of industrial competitiveness. “Collaboration in research and development is of strategic importance. The cost of innovation might be high, but the cost of obsolescence would be greater,” he stressed.
He called for a unified strategic framework through which resources could be pooled, data integrated and risks shared across member countries. Ojulari further urged the rapid adoption of digital technologies, artificial intelligence and advanced engineering to improve upstream, midstream and downstream operations.
On his part, APPO Secretary General, Farid Ghezali, urged African petroleum producing countries to ensure research in the oil and gas sector produced solutions that are practical and directly relevant to the continent.
