Given the newly inaugurated Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), local oil and gas traders/operators have been advised to leverage technology if they truly desire to join the global oil and gas community.

The Chief Executive of Flagship Energy Limited, Mr. Osagie Ediale, who gave the advice in a statement released in Abuja recently, said the deployment of technological initiatives for procurement in the oil and gas sector, would certainly boost operations, adding that the adoption will make operations in the sector to be seamless as all the perceived or imagined bottlenecks will become things of the past.

Ediale said in the statement, that technology was fast dominating every operation and all human activities, so introducing it to the oil and gas sector especially in both the upstream and downstream areas should be encouraged.

"Elsewhere in the global community, technology has been adopted in virtually everything and so we should leverage this locally by making it a way of life," Ediale said.

While commending President Muhammadu Buhari for his assent to the PIA, Ediale said indigenous operators like Flagship Energy, were looking forward to supporting the growth of the Nigerian economy through technological innovations and efficient business strategies in the light of the complexities in the oil and gas sector.

"Knowledge of information technology driven discipline, which require specialised skills set and deep financial capability are key drivers of the sector," Ediale explained.