By Clara Nwachukwu & Yemie Adeoye
Evolving issues and challenges associated with current research and development in the energy sector are blamed on the administrative decay in Nigeria’s tertiary institutions.

This is part of the consensus arrived at by the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), Nigerian Council, at its just-concluded 34th Nigerian Annual International Conference and Exhibition, held at Tinapa, Cross River State.

In a communique made available to journalists on Tuesday, the petroleum engineers decried the short term mentality in investments in Research and Development among stakeholders as well as the attendant and disturbing disconnect between research institutions and research consumers.

They observed that, “Research and development investment in energy often had long gestation periods and are always capital intensive .As such, they are unattractive to the private sector and therefore favorable government policies and an enabling investment environment are required.”

The SPE also noted that with Nigeria ranked 10th in the world’s oil reserves and therefore occupies an important position in the African subregion, accordingly, optimising this potential would require concerted and collaborative efforts in the industry.

In the engineers’ opinion, “While energy resources in Africa remain largely unexplored and unexploited, the existing legal, financial and political framework in most Africa countries would not guarantee the promotion and development of energy as well as the sustainability of energy sources.”

Against this backdrop, the SPE called on  stakeholders such as oil and gas companies, government Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in the oil and gas sector to: Invest in local technologies so that the nation does not perpetually depend on foreign technologies; Form ‘value-driven’ partnerships so as to attract the right investors and stakeholders and; Collaborate in strengthening Nigerian educational institutions from basic to tertiary levels through research grants, facility upgrades and train-the-trainer programmes.

Other recommendations are: Identify and prioritise the technology needs and maps out strategic plan for funding  research and development in Nigeria and the Sub-Saharan region, and; Institutionaliise Research and Development in accordance with the Petroleum Industry Bill, to enable the country build capacity and keep pace with globalisation among other things.

Furthermore, the conference also called on the federal government to encourage private participation in Research and Development activities through tax incentives and monetary policies which are favorable to private investments.

The SPE said that government should “incentivise chain in order to encourage compliance with regulatory framework for energy development”.