The Nigeria International Petroleum Summit (NIPS), the African Petroleum Technology and Business conference, scheduled for June 6 – 10, 2021, is primed to come up with an action plan for Africa’s oil and gas industry in the post-COVID-19 pandemic era.
The theme of the summit is “From crisis to opportunities: New approaches to the future of hydrocarbons.”
According to James Shindi, managing director, Brevity Anderson, event producers of NIPS, “The COVID-19 pandemic engulfed the global economy especially the oil and gas industry. The global level travel bans along with grounding of international flights led to heavy reduction in consumption of aviation fuel across the globe. So, there is a need for an African-wide response for a post-covid-19 era.”
It should be noted that partial and complete lockdown strategy, which was used to deal with the pandemic, further curtailed industrial and commercial activities thereby reducing consumption of fuel further and pushing the oil prices down to $23.36 at a point.
The summit will be declared open by President Muhammadu Buhari with Timipre Sylva, minister of state for petroleum resources, as chief host.
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As is tradition with the NIPS from inception, top African energy ministers will also be attending this edition. Some of the African energy ministers who have confirmed attendance include Gabriel Mbanga Obiang Lima, minister of mines and hydrocarbon, Equatorial Guinea; Matthew Opoku Prempeh, minister for energy, Ghana; Budimbu Ntuabuanga Dider, minister of hydrocarbon, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Vincent de Paul Massassa, minister of hydrocarbon, Gabon.
“We gather the best brains and key policymakers from across the continent to chart the way forward and posit strategies for the management of Africa’s huge hydrocarbon resources. That has been our tradition from inception,” says Shindi.
Also expected are key industry players which include Tony Attah, managing director, Nigeria LNG Limited; Osagie Okunbor, managing director, SPDC/ chairman, Shell Companies in Nigeria; Michael Sangster, managing director/chief executive, Total Energies, among others.
As part of the social and networking activities lined up for this year’s edition, there will be an exclusive dinner for the African energy ministers, top CEOs, diplomatic personnel and select dignitaries to be hosted by Nigeria’s Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva.
