For independent oil and gas players in Nigeria to optimise the value of their assets, boost returns on investments and ensure resilient systems, they must get asset integrity right, fix obsolescence in their operations and consciously work on life extension of their assets, the CEO Seplat Energy, Engineer Effiong Okon, has said.

Okon said this during the Panel Session 11 of the 49th Nigeria Annual International Conference and Exhibition (NAICE) organised by the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) in Lagos, themed: “Building Resilient Energy Systems in a Rapidly Evolving Energy Landscape”.

According to him, critical equipment must be maintained at top quartile performance of 95 percent, meaning that 95 per cent of the time, equipment should be running.

“When you do all that, you drive down unscheduled deferment. In fact, you must follow your oil and gas molecules from reservoir to export. The approach is all encompassing – you must understand your reservoir capacity, well capacity, your flow line and surface facilities. These mean a total understanding of the asset,” he emphasised.

On ways of further reducing cost in operations, he said effective water treatment, ending routine flares and monetizing every gas molecule as against paying penalties on flares, cutting a few redundancies for evacuation routes, and building capacity around logistics and outsourcing would significantly impact operations.

The Seplat CEO equally called for deliberate investment in human capital to really understand the sub-surface, wells and facilities.

According to him, the right knowledge could then be driven by requisite capital raising, which ultimately drive value optimisation. He, therefore, called on SPE to raise more engineers to cover the skills gap and drive efficiencies in the Nigerian oil and gas space.

Speaking on Seplat Energy’s commitment to advancing shareholders’ value, Engr. Okon said the company had returned massive value to shareholders in form of share appreciation and dividend payouts over the year whilst also balancing that with capital allocation targeted at further building the company for the future.

He said the company had distinguished itself in the area of gas development and performance domestically, saying that the shallow water business has got about 12TCF of gas, which will be unlocked, accelerated and monetised more than the company had ever done.

“We are indeed trailblazers when it comes to domestic gas development. We are also doing a lot of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) in the domestic market to displace biomass and contribute in addressing carbon intensity issues,” he said.