Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, has stressed the need for employees of the oil and gas sector to acquire relevant skills to fit into the transitioning global energy sector.
President of PENGASSAN, Comrade Festus Osifo, stated this on Monday, in Abuja, at the PENGASSAN Energy and Labour Summit with the theme: “Energy Transition and Its Effects on the Workforce in the Nigerian oil and gas sector.”
Osifo further stated that effects of climate change have rekindled the world’s apprehension on how to eliminate the footprint of fossil fuel and reduce its attendant effects on environment.
According to Osifo, the call for quick action, has made several Oil and Gas companies to migrate to Energy Companies in order to reflect the new realities.
His words, “Total is now Total Energies, Savannah Petroleum is now Savannah Energy. Norway Statoil is now Equinor, the list goes on. All these are in preparation for the transition from being traditional oil producers to full range energy companies. A lot of the oil and gas exploration companies are now strategizing and moving their investments and significant capital to renewable energy-related projects.
“BP, Royal Dutch Shell, ExxonMobil, Total Energies, Eni, Chevron, are leading the pack. Most of these investments have gone to the areas of researches and developments of Solar Energy, hydrogen, hydro, biomass, EV charging units, biofuels, wind energy, etc,” he said.
According to Osifo, the purpose of the Energy and Labour Summit was to “brainstorm on how the transition can be best sailed, how it will affect the workforce that are the most important asset and by extension their families and dependents and how it can birth maximum value to the nation.
“We hope that the summit will reveal what the working class in the oil and gas industry have to do today to remain relevant tomorrow; the new skills and trainings needed; the collaborations that are required with their employers and government in achieving smooth and sustainable transition.
“The summit with its theme centred on Energy Transition would still incorporate expert discussions on Crude Oil theft and Contract staffing in the Oil and Gas Industry, and in the spirit of optimizing value addition by the workforce, discuss how women can optimally impact the Oil and Gas industry to the benefit of all.
According to the Group General Manager of National Petroleum Investment Management Services, NAPIMS, Mr. Bala Wunti, in a panel discussion on “Repositioning the Nigerian Industry and its Workforce for the Future” oil and gas workers must learn and acquire competencies that will secure their future in the global energy sector.
He further noted, “The future is going to be different; it’s going to be technology-driven; therefore, innovation, creativity, soft skills and other things a very important for all of us to be workers of today and future leaders.
“And because we have prepared ourselves and we are now in the growth trajectory, we can make significant progress.
How to achieve that is to be able to acquire some significant skills, problem solving, trying to do a lot of things around business development, around media literacy, IT literacy and so on,” Wunti said.
The NAPIMS boss expressed confidence that by 2060 Nigeria will achieve net zero emission and energy self-sufficiency, adding that the target of the country’s oil and gas means that everyone has to play his role.
Speaking further on the future of the industry, he said although energy is a global need, nobody wants pollution and that the world cannot achieve energy stability without talking about fossil fuel.
Wunti noted that the world has realised that fossil fuel is still very relevant and will be relevant for another century, that is why dirty coal is making a return into the energy market.
He stressed the need to produce energy that will meet the market demands, adding that investment discrimination against fusil fuel would present a significant problem to the sector as it battles to meet global energy demand.
He noted that for the fusil fuel industry to remain relevant, it has to address some challenges, adding that there will be significant disruption in the industry in the next five to ten years, with global emphasis on clean energy.
He, therefore, urged PENGASSAN to prepare itself and be on the growth trajectory by acquiring relevant skills that will make the workforce in the industry to remain relevant.
According to him, the world is going to be more reliant on technology than fusil fuel, while urging staff in the industry to embark on self-innovation and acquisition of competences in the use of technology to secure themselves in the future of global energy.
On the specific skills personnel in the industry require to maintain their relevance in the sector, the Executive General Manager, People and Talent Management at Total Nigeria, Evi Ifekwe, said millions of opportunities will be created in the nearest future that require skills like sustainable energy, bio-energy and others.
Ifekwe urged staff in the industry to be open to learning to apply the energy mix, stating that while traditional engineering skills will still be required, there is need to acquire new skills to build on that foundation.
According to her, agric will become a relevant skill with the production of bio-energy, while communication will also become a pertinent skill, and innovation thinking will be very important.
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