L-R: Mr. Clement Isong, Executive Secretary of MOMAN, Mr. Adetunji Oyebanji, Chairman OTL 2023 and Dr. Emeka Akabogu, Vice Chairman of OTL.
-Felix Douglas
The Oil Trading Logistics (OTL), Africa Downstream is the mainstream event for the downstream sector attracting stakeholders and operators in the industry. The 2023 edition was held in October.
The Chairman of OTL 2023, Mr. Adetunji Oyebanji, made a review in a post-conference media briefing, held in Lagos in collaboration with the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), on the prime downstream event in Nigeria which has gained recognition beyond the shores of the country.
According to him, he said: “For those who are interested in the industry as a key stakeholder, it is important for us to throw a bit of the postmortem to look back and see what went wrong and what can be improved on in the future.”
He expressed his satisfaction for the participation and coverage of the event and also appreciated the press for being supportive in the coverage of OTL.
He said, “Overall, we had a successful event judging by participation and exhibition particularly the collaboration and support that we enjoyed from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Regulatory Authority (NMDRA).”
Continuing, the OTL Chairman revealed that the level of collaboration and cooperation that was exhibited this year demonstrates clearly how important the Authority takes the relationship with the industry.
“As we move forward, we see the trend margin which will be compared to the way Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) treats the banking industry with regards to bankers’ committee. Such level of cooperation has commenced and we must commend the Authority Chief Executive, Ahmed Farouk, for personally attending the event and thorough commitment for growth of the industry.”
Oyebanji added that it shows the Authority Chief recognises with joint efforts not only on the regulators but operators in the industry working together which is the only way to take the industry to greater heights.
Hence, the cooperation of the Authority is appreciated.
He thanked all the sponsors because without them nothing could have been achieved. The key thing remains the participation of organisations, because, virtually all the entire value chains were represented.
The OTL Chairman stated further that there was participation from various downstream organisations such as: DAPMA, MOMAN, PETROAN, IPMAN among others.
Gas and maritime organisations were also involved.
Definitely, it was an all-embracing downstream event. For the future, it will be improved with much expectation.
The former MOMAN Chairman said, the only way to raise the bar and fortune of the industry is to collaborate and work together and OTL will continue to provide veritable platform for the attainment of the objective.
“My vision is that we will continue to have this kind of regular ongoing conversation with the Authority and all other areas.”
Oyebanji told journalists that one of the clear messages of OTL is that even though Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) has been passed; it took time to achieve the passage which “many of you who had been in the energy space for over twenty years can attest to the tortuous journey it took before it became a law.”
The central point and achievement of PIA is having a market that is free, transparent and competitive. But unfortunately, there are some things to put in place for the objectives to be attained.
At present, it is only one single supplier of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) which is definitely not the main objective of the PIA. It envisages many suppliers, free entry and exits into the market. This is how to get the attention of consumers.
While prices may supposedly be free but not fully cost reflective of market dynamics. One of the benefits of the PIA is the idea of a competition not only at the pump, but all through the value chain in terms of sourcing and supply of products. There has to be competition so that people get good prices.
Another issue of focus is gas and how it can get into the mainstream. The government has said a lot concerning Compress Natural Gas (CNG) where an implementation committee was set up and they are working with the industry.
During the OTL event, renewables and other sources of energy were brought to the fore apart from gas. The realisation that the world is moving fast towards energy transition was also emphasised by stakeholders and industry experts.
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