Abuja — Nigeria need not lose so many barrels of crude oil meant for export as is currently the case with the simple application of InFusion, the world's first Enterprise Control System.

Addressing newsmen in Abuja recently, Sales Director of Invensys, David Carew, alongside Stephen Ballard of Ballard Communications Management, said by installing InFusion, the President, Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, could monitor the exact volume of crude oil that leaves the shores of this country, thereby making for a more accurate record keeping and accounting for Nigeria's oil exports.

Already, Carew said, the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), is ready for the use of the product, adding that Nigeria is a perfect place for the use of InFusion, which, he said, can reduce the cost of spares for the industry.

Besides exports, he hinted at the possibility of a wireless close circuit television, CCTV, that could monitor the constantly vandalised pipelines in the country and raise alarm when tampered with. On the likelihood of InFusion also being helpful in keeping an eye on the pipelines in case of breakage, Carew said while it may not be feasible at this time, that prospect could be explored.

The officials spoke at the formal opening of the Abuja office of Invensys Process Systems, a division of Invensys Plc, which they dub the centre of excellence. It is also to serve as the African headquarters of the company, with an initial staff of 50.

"Invensys has demonstrated a real commitment to Nigeria having worked successfully in this market since the 1980s, which has reaped rewards resulting in a significant multi-million dollar business," Ballard said. "The company is now poised for further major expansion with the opening of its new Nigerian headquarters in Abuja. The office or 'Centre of Excellence', which will initially be staffed by 50people, is set to manage business throughout Africa and form an important technical training centre." According to him, part of the reason for the success of Invensys Process Systems in Nigeria had been the commitment to the recruitment and training of local engineers and to the provision of a career path within the company.

"In fact, over 80 per cent of the company's employees will be Nigerian nationals, a figure which exceeds the government targets for businesses operating in the country," he added. He said Invensys had won a reputation as one of the world leaders in industrial asset performance management, a strategy designed to help companies particularly in the oil and gas sector effectively balance the availability and utilization of their production assets to match changing business requirements.

Ballard explained that the company's recent launch of InFusion effectively allows companies to integrate both complex control systems with real-time finance performance data seamlessly into ERP packages such as SAP. "In addition to its rapidly expanding Global Solutions and Performance Management services groups," he said, "Invensys' automation businesses include industry-leading brands such as Foxboro, Triconex, SimSci-Esscor, Wonderware, and Avantis, whose products are installed in more than 100,000 plants across the world. These range from small hybrid and batch plants to the world's largest upstream projects, refineries, gas plants, petrochemical plants, power plants, and pulp and paper mills."

The company also announced the training of "some Nigeria's future engineers" beginning seven years ago with an innovative post-graduate programme targeted at engineers wanting to obtain the professional qualifications and experience demanded by oil companies worldwide.

It said students had worked for both Invensys and NNPC as well as many other companies in the Nigerian oil and gas sector.