The President, Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN), Engr. Wole Ogunsanya, has declared that the cost of providing services in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry was relatively the cheapest on the African continent.

He spoke at a Townhall Session at the 14th Practical Nigerian Content (PNC) Conference and Exhibition at the Nigerian Content Tower (NCT), Yenagoa, Bayelsa state, according to a statement yesterday.

He provided a detailed analysis of project costs across Africa and elsewhere. Engr. Ogunsanya insisted that a distinction must be made between the capital expenditures (CAPEX) of the oil industry and operating expenditures (OPEX). He stressed that Nigeria’s CAPEX rates were arguably the lowest in Africa.

He attributed what some industry observers referred to as Nigeria’s uncompetitive costs of production to challenges of evacuation, security costs and the activities of portfolio companies that habitually manipulate their clientele.

According to him, PETAN, the umbrella body of reputable indigenous technical oilfield service companies, has been analysing production costs in different countries over time, using capital expenditure (CAPEX) and operating costs/ expenditure (OPEX), and, in the case of Nigeria, carefully identifying cost elements at successive stages of oil and gas production.