By Godwin ORITSE

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), a leading adviser to the global energy industry, has called on independent oil and gas companies operating in Africa, to adopt operational excellence to overcome their teething hurdles and emerge as successful companies.

PWC said at the just concluded first Annual Africa Oil and Gas Conference held in Accra, Ghana, adding that indigenous oil companies must focus on operational excellence to help close the gap between their ambitions and actual performance.

“Operational excellence is no longer something that indigenous oil and gas companies in this region strive for but a ‘must have’. Getting the very best out of operational activities has become vital for oil and gas companies to remain competitive in the sector.

“Reserves are becoming more inaccessible and expensive to get out of the ground; new technologies and engineering solutions need to be maximised; scarce talent has to go further; midstream and downstream activities need to gain margin; and above all, industry safety is critical.”

According to the firm’s Africa Oil and Gas leader Mr. Uyi Akpata,  “the operational excellence model developed by PwC, focuses on creating a blueprint for indigenous oil and gas companies that clarifies the organizational goals, using key performance indicators; improves supply chain management; optimizes asset management; and improves strategic competence and production efficiency.”

The two-day conference which attracted over 120 participants, highlighted other issues that affect the oil and gas industry across Africa, some of which include local content initiatives, inadequate infrastructure, operational efficiency, capital, fiscal concerns and regulation.

The Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Mr. Ernest Nwapa, said that for Nigeria to be a great oil producing nation, it has to fully optimize the opportunities in the oil and gas value chain, by increasing local participation.

He said the Nigerian government passed the Nigerian Local Content Act into law in order to encourage local participation in the oil and gas sector in the country.

He added that the Board has developed a model that allows the participation of independent oil companies in the creation of training opportunities that impact local communities – building local capacity, asset ownership and a cut down on abuse of expatriates.

Earlier, in a keynote, the Managing Director, Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC, Mr. Mutiu Sunmonu, called for meaningful collaboration within and outside the region to fully unlock Africa’s oil potentials.

He listed knowledge transfer, human capital development, investment and financing as some of the benefits that could come with such collaborations in the industry.

The Advisory and Strategy Leader, PwC West Africa, Mr. Andrew Nevin, called on Nigeria and other oil-rich countries of Africa to diversify their revenue points or brace up to the impending revenue decline, as a result of the discovery of Shale Oil.

He noted that oil exports have been on the decline as a result of greater adoption of shale oil by oil importing countries, notably the United States of America.

Ghana’s Minister for Energy and Petroleum, Mr. Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, commended the organizers of the conference, and described the conference as an ideal way to share insights and experiences in the industry.

According to the Minister, who was represented by Williamson Shamo, a Director in the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum, “PwC has provided a platform to update practitioners with the best practices around the world, so that emerging oil and gas countries like Ghana can learn from it and succeed in our drive to put in place the necessary structures that will help us to achieve our goals.”