GE Pledges to Build Skill and Capacity in Nigeria’s Oil & Gas Industry

Customers of GE Oil and Gas, partners and other stakeholders in the Nigerian Oil & Gas industry today met at GE Garages for an interactive session on the role of Technology in the Nigerian Oil & Gas Industry. GE Garages is GE’s platform to communicate Advanced Manufacturing stories, bringing together both internal and external partners to enable creativity and innovation on a global scale.

L-R Dr. Lazarus Angbazo, CEO, GE Nigeria, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, Min of Power and Lorraine Bolsinger, President, CEO GE Distributed Power the Launch of GE Distributed Power in Lagos Recently

Speaking at the event, GE Nigeria Oil & Gas Leader Uzo Nwagwu said as technology continues to play a key role in the development of the Oil and gas industry, there needs to be concerted efforts to build skills and capacity in available local manpower.

According to Uzo Nwagwu, “the core of GE Oil & Gas is technology, and this technology will play a critical role in emerging energy markets.  As the Oil & Gas industry continues to explore new sources of production, operations are increasing in complexity thus driving significant demand for better technology in equipment and services”. He explained that GE was investing significantly in the training of engineers and technicians in the use of the ever-evolving technology. All GE Field Service Engineers and technicians are indigenous Nigerians. This is part of GE’s localization strategy in the region.

The GE Nigeria Oil and Gas leader explained that GE delivers expertise to Africa by being a “big business” that acts like a nimble, localized, “small” business. “We do this by combining a deep understanding of local demands, challenges, and opportunities in the energy sector with GE’s global scale and R&D” said Uzo.

GE is investing in technology and service sectors that are critically important to the region, such as subsea and LNG: Subsea production is expected to increase by 35% globally by 2018 as growing demand, along with depletion of current wells, drives production toward much deeper parts of the sea. GE is delivering technology and services today to develop subsea resources and is developing the technologies that will move processing to the seabed.

Participants at the session were taken on a tour of the Garages display and they interacted directly with the technology on display ranging from 3D printers to laser cutters. The Garages programme is in partnership with the Dangote Foundation. As a significant stakeholder within the Nigerian private sector, Dangote will help produce and maintain the program and will collaborate on curriculum development for entrepreneurial and non-skilled participants. In addition, Dangote will be engaged to source and support the venue which will host Garages in Lagos.