Business
NNPC Ltd Expresses Concern for Dearth of Skills in Energy Sector
Nigeria’s widening energy workforce and technical skills gap has left the country on the verge of losing control of its energy future unless the matter is addressed with the urgency it deserves.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) raised the concerns on Thursday at the Oil and Gas Trainers Association of Nigeria (OGTAN) HCD Conference and Expo in Warri, Delta State.
The Chief Human Resources Officer, NNPC Limited, Kazachiyang Nuhu, observed the convergence of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), the Decade of Gas, which raised participation by local operators and the global energy transition already created higher demand for technical talent that the industry was struggling to supply.
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In a presentation at the OGTAN conference, Nuhu maintained that the changing energy landscape, driven by policy, market shifts, technology and changing expectations of younger workers, had created a technical talent demand that Nigeria could not afford to ignore.
He said artificial intelligence, digitalisation and automation were compressing skill cycles, while capital was increasingly moving towards liquefied natural gas, cleaner molecules and low-carbon opportunities.
Nuhu warned that unless the workforce was urgently reskilled and repositioned, Nigeria could lose its ability to effectively participate in the emerging energy economy.
“Reskill, reposition or risk becoming a spectator in our own industry,” he told stakeholders at the conference.
He identified workforce and skills gaps, an ageing workforce and brain drain, commonly referred to as ‘japa’, among the major challenges confronting the industry.
He also identified a widening disconnect between academia and industry, particularly the gap between what was taught in educational institutions and what the industry required from employees from day one.
Other challenges highlighted included weak safety culture, spills and flaring; vandalism, crude theft, surveillance and metering gaps; supply of quality materials and equipment; ageing assets, reliability and project overruns; digital oilfield and environmental, social and governance skills; as well as refinery operations, product quality, LPG safety and trade finance.
Nuhu noted that the solution required a fundamental shift in how human capital development was approached across the industry, noting that training must become more closely linked to production, safety, reliability and cost, while programmes must be based on current field realities rather than generic manuals.
He called for training to be benchmarked against global standards and supported by emerging technologies such as simulators, digital twins, virtual and augmented reality and artificial intelligence. “Every naira spent on training must translate to a safer plant, a skilled employee, and a stronger balance sheet,” he added.
Nuhu disclosed that the NNPC Ltd would also change the basis on which it engaged training providers, stressing that trainers must understand the direction in which the industry was heading. “We will partner only with trainers who teach the industry we are becoming, not the one we are leaving behind,” he said.
He said the company was already developing its workforce through initial professional development, career pathways, industry exposure, leadership pipelines, mentorship and knowledge transfer.
According to him, the ultimate measure of Nigerian content should be whether Nigerians were acquiring the expertise required to lead major projects to international standards, saying, “Not how many Nigerians were hired, but how many world-class Nigerians led the project.”
Nuhu argued that true local content should be measured by expertise rather than percentages, with future industry needs spanning technical, digital, commercial and human capabilities.
He said this would include skills in renewable integration, gas-to-power, AI, predictive maintenance, energy economics, carbon markets, sustainable finance, adaptive leadership and systems thinking.
He challenged Nigeria to determine whether it would become a contributor or merely a consumer of the future energy economy. He called on industry players, trainers and academia to move from parallel efforts towards a unified capacity compact.
OGTAN President, Chris Osarunmewense, stressed that the association was seeking to sustain conversations around how Nigeria could develop a workforce capable of delivering on the promises of companies operating in the oil and gas industry.
Osarunmewense said human capital development was a continuous process that required the industry to recognise and nurture people’s potential.
“Human capital develops by progression. At OGTAN, therefore, we treasure the potential of people who have developed human capital in nature to effectively operate within the oil and gas industry,” the OGTAN boss said.
He added that the conference was designed to bring stakeholders together and discuss the ways to address the skill gaps in the industry. According to him, the decision to hold the 2026 conference in Warri, rather than Lagos or Abuja, was deliberate, given the city’s place in the history and development of Nigeria’s petroleum industry.
“For us, this choice was meaningful. Warri is not simply a venue; it is part of the history of Nigeria’s oil and gas industry,” he added.
Osarunmewense said the Niger Delta had for decades remained at the heart of Nigeria’s petroleum industry, with the region’s history of exploration, production, processing, services, technical manpower and community development deeply intertwined with the country’s broader energy economy.
The OGTAN president said the association wanted international participants to experience the Niger Delta not merely as a geographical location associated with petroleum production but as a region with talent, enterprise, technical expertise, institutions, communities and significant human capital potential.
He said the collaboration with the Petroleum Training Institute (PTI) further strengthened Warri’s suitability for the conference because of the institute’s role in technical and professional training in the petroleum sector.
Osarunmewense noted that the industry’s human capital challenges could not be resolved by any single stakeholder, stressing the need for collaboration across the value chain.
“The challenges before the industry are too complex for any single organisation to solve. The government alone cannot solve it. Regulators cannot solve it alone. Oil and gas companies cannot solve it alone. Training providers cannot solve it alone. Universities and technical institutions cannot do so alone either. We need collaboration across the value chain,” he emphasised.
Nigerian billionaire and President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has blamed local marketers and international oil companies for fuelling protests over land earmarked for his proposed $16bn oil refinery in Lamu, Kenya.
Dangote and the President of Kenya, William Ruto, performed the groundbreaking ceremony for the refinery in Lamu on Wednesday. This comes even as a court halted construction activities due to a land dispute.
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Dangote made the allegation while speaking to the BBC’s Focus on Africa programme, amid protests by some residents over compensation for land acquired for the refinery project.
The refinery is expected to have a processing capacity of 700,000 barrels per day when completed in 2030. Dangote disputed claims that the company had taken more land than it required, saying it only used the portion allocated to it by the Kenyan Government.
“They said some people are demonstrating; demonstrating about what? Have you ever seen people demonstrating against themselves in terms of development?” he asked.
Africa’s richest man dismissed the protests as “games played by local marketers and international players”, insisting the refinery would go ahead and would be ready by 2030 as planned.
The groundbreaking was also attended by the leaders of Uganda, Ethiopia, Togo and Benin. Dangote has offered regional governments a combined 30 per cent stake in the refinery, according to Reuters.
The billionaire insisted that the protests would not stop the refinery project, which he described as his largest proposed investment outside Nigeria.
The project is expected to become the largest refinery in East Africa and Kenya’s biggest infrastructure project since independence, surpassing the $5.1bn Standard Gauge Railway.
Dangote said the refinery would demonstrate that the success recorded with his 700,000bpd refinery in Nigeria could be replicated elsewhere on the continent.
“Lekki proved that it can be done, Lamu must prove that it can be repeated,” he said.
However, the Save Lamu campaign group has raised concerns about the environmental impact of the project on the local community. The co-founder of the group, Walid Ali, told the BBC that residents wanted to see the findings of the environmental impact assessment and the proposed mitigation measures.
A group of 133 Lamu residents had approached the Kenyan High Court in a bid to stop construction work. Following the legal action, activities including excavation and construction on the disputed land have been restricted pending the next court hearing, scheduled for October 14.
Dangote said the refinery would create about 60,000 jobs at the peak of construction, with local communities expected to benefit from the project.
The refinery will also include a 1,000-megawatt power plant designed to supply Dangote’s operations and other industries expected to establish businesses in the area.
Courtesy – The PUNCH
As Nigeria marks its 66th Independence Anniversary, Chevron companies in Nigeria reaffirm their confidence in the country and their long-standing commitment to partnership, investment and responsible energy development.
For more than six decades, Chevron has contributed to Nigeria’s growth through oil and gas production, deepwater investment, gas development, local content, human capacity development and strategic community partnerships.
Chevron is a leading oil and gas producer and investor in Nigeria, with operations across the Niger Delta and interests in major deepwater assets. Jim Swartz, Chairman and Managing Director of Chevron Companies in Nigeria, said the company takes a long-term view of Nigeria, with continued focus on operational excellence, efficiency, innovation and investment across its portfolio. He noted that Chevron remains committed to building enduring relationships that enable human progress today and in the future.
To support sustained growth, Chevron is expanding and optimising its assets through exploration, infill drilling and production enhancement. The company supports the Petroleum Industry Act 2021 and the Federal Government’s efforts to strengthen the industry’s regulatory framework and investment climate.
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Since the PIA, Chevron has renewed and converted key joint-venture and deepwater leases; recorded discoveries at Meji NW-1, Delta South AA and Awodi-07; entered PPLs 2000 and 2001 through farm-in agreements; acquired deepwater block PPL 2010; and renewed Oil Prospecting Licence 215.
Chevron is also participating in strategic deepwater opportunities, including the announced Bonga Southwest/Aparo and Owowo/Usan developments. Completion of seismic acquisition across several deepwater leases is supporting future exploration, while planned infill drilling at the Agbami and non-operated Usan hubs is intended to mitigate natural production decline and sustain output.
Gas development remains another important pillar of Chevron’s contribution. Investments in the Escravos Gas Plant and Escravos Gas-to-Liquids facility have supported gas utilisation, reduced routine flaring and enabled production of high-quality products such as naphtha and refined diesel. Chevron also led the development of the approximately 700-kilometre West African Gas Pipeline, through which Nigeria supplies gas to Benin, Togo and Ghana, supporting regional economic growth and energy security.
Local content and human capacity development are central to Chevron’s operations. Nigerians account for more than 90 per cent of its in-country workforce. The company established its Local Content Policy in 1999, well before enactment of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act in 2010, and continues to collaborate with the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board while creating contract opportunities for Nigerian companies and contractors.
Beyond its operations, Chevron and its partners invest in health, education and environmental conservation. In health, the Agbami parties have constructed and equipped more than 28 chest clinics, donated nine mother-and-child healthcare centres and provided a medical diagnostics laboratory. These facilities strengthen tuberculosis treatment, maternal and child care, diagnostics and emergency response. Chevron Corporation has also supported global programmes addressing HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, with benefits extending to Nigeria.
Chevron’s education programmes have benefited more than 23,000 people through scholarships, infrastructure and capacity building. Since 2009, the Agbami Medical and Engineering Professional Scholarship has supported more than 16,500 students nationwide, including 715 first-class graduates.
Chevron Nigeria and its deepwater partners have also delivered 39 science laboratory complexes and 25 conventional and hybrid libraries, while encouraging students to pursue science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
In environmental conservation, Chevron supported the establishment of the 78-hectare Lekki Conservation Centre and donated it to the Nigerian Conservation Foundation in 1992; today, it supports research, education and biodiversity protection.
As Nigeria celebrates 66 years of independence, Chevron’s message is clear: the company sees Nigeria as a long-term strategic partner and remains committed to investing in energy development, Nigerian capability and sustainable national progress. Through disciplined investment, collaboration and responsible operations, Chevron intends to continue contributing to Nigeria’s energy security, economic growth and shared prosperity.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has said Nigeria must reduce losses between farms and markets as part of efforts to bring down food prices and ease the cost of living.
Tinubu made this known in his Independence Day address to Nigerians on Thursday, as the country marked its 66th anniversary.
The President said reducing the cost of producing and transporting food would be critical to making essential goods more affordable for Nigerians.
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According to him, the government is expanding mechanised irrigation and dry-season farming while improving access to seeds, fertiliser, storage and transportation.
He said the government was also building and completing roads, railways and ports to improve the movement of agricultural produce and connect farms and factories to markets.
Tinubu explained that when farmers produce at lower costs and fewer crops are lost before reaching the market, the savings can ultimately be reflected in the prices paid by consumers.
“Our logic is simple. When a farmer produces more cheaply, when fewer crops are lost between the farm and the market, when a manufacturer spends less on electricity, when a truck reaches its destination faster, and when the business environment fosters fair competition, all those savings will ultimately find their way into the price of goods in the market,” he said.
The President said the measures form part of his administration’s broader plan to lower the cost of living and move the country towards what he described as an era of shared prosperity.
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