IN the wake of perceived threat to Nigeria place in crude oil production on the African continent from emerging African oil producing countries, the council chairman of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), Nigerian Chapter has dismissed the challenge to the country's continued dominance, noting that the development only serves to inspire greater effort in-country.

Dispelling any threat to Nigeria's production capacity, Mr Anthony Abolarin, the Council Chairman, Society for Petroleum Engineers (SPE), Nigerian Chapter, argued that the emergence of the new oil producers merely challenges Nigeria to beef up its strength.

Mr Abolarin, who spoke in Lagos, while intimating journalists with preparations for the SPE's 2010 Nigeria Annual International Conference and Exhibition (NAICE), said, the new African producers show that Nigeria is no longer alone in projecting Africa as a resource-rich continent.

He noted, "You cannot be a champion without a fight, just like you cannot be a leader without followers. I will not say Nigeria's position is under threats, but rather that it is now being challenged to do more.

"As you know, Nigeria's position as the highest producer was at one time taken over by Angola. With these new emerging producers like Ghana, Uganda, Equatorial Guinea, it is a good that other countries are now giving Nigeria a run for the first position."

He argued that in view of rising global demand for oil, which is estimated to double by 2030, oil producing countries would need to double their capacity to meet the demand.

Energy supply mix

Mr Abolarin explained that this was one of the reasons for choosing the theme for this year's NAICE conference:

"Meeting the World's Energy Supply Mix," which he said is meant to examine the critical role of investment in the oil and gas industry, under prevailing political framework and the role of the international oil companies in the face of current global developments.

The SPE chairman noted that meeting future energy demand is becoming increasingly challenging because "the pool would have been sufficiently depleted as well as the production opportunities.

So we will require a lot more capacity, a lot more investment and a lot more technology to meet rising demand."

Accordingly, he explained that one of the objective of this year's conference is, "to bring to the fore, issues that will shape developments in the prevailing future scenarios in African oil and gas industry."

To this end, he said the Nigerian council has invited the presidents of other producers African countries including Congo, Angola, Ghana, Equatorial Guinea and Uganda.

According to him, "Global energy demand will not decrease, rather it will keep increasing, so we need to bring all the various stakeholders - government and operators on the need to rise to the challenge by bringing together all new comers, long term and medium term players to discuss on what role Africa should play in this energy mix."

Asian interest in Africa

Besides, he noted that with the rising interest by Far East countries and their aggressive entry into Africa's oil and gas industry, African leaders need to chart a way forward on a continent-wide basis.

"The earlier African leaders decide on what role they want Africa to play, the better for the industry. Decision on this will be based on what role we had played in the past, what role we are currently playing and what role we should be playing in the future. So when the leaders are speaking and deciding, this means we will be getting faster to the decision point," Abolarin said.

He added that Africa has the potential to double its production capacity by 2030, and as such, not only able to sell to the global market, but also be a consumer of its product, which he argued requires new and better legislations to encourage more investments in the industry.

Niger Delta is safe

With regard to the choice of Tinaapa, as the venue for this year's conference, the SPE chairman said this was deliberate, as the council wanted to send a clear message that Niger Delta is safe contrary to negative media reports on the security situation in the oil-rich region.

He said, "Niger Delta is safer than being reported in the media, and Niger Delta is the most active region in Nigeria's oil and gas industry and should attract positive attention."