Continuing investment in technology and how smartly it is deployed will be crucial to optimising opportunities in oil and gas exploration in Africa, Olajumoke Ajayi, Managing Director, Asharami Energy, has told Energy Editors at the recently concluded 37th annual international conference of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE) in Lagos.
Ajayi said Asharami Energy, a Sahara Group Upstream Company, had since reviewed its processes and operations to facilitate “seamless integration of emerging technology to boost the organisation’s exploration activities across Nigeria, Ghana and Cote d’ Ivoire as Asharami is working towards hitting 100,000 bpd production milestone over the next five years.” This feat will make Asharami Energy one of the foremost oil production companies in Africa.
She said Asharami Energy’s decision to support the NAPE conference as major sponsors was in keeping with the company’s commitment to driving thought leadership, good governance and sustainability in the sector. “Asharami’s affiliation with Sahara Group, an energy conglomerate with operations and investments in the upstream, midstream, downstream, power and infrastructure sectors continue to propel us to provide leadership in the sector. At Asharami Energy, we are transforming our operations with cutting edge technology that supports remotely operated oil and gas facilities as well as new data acquisition and processing methodologies driven by supercomputers,” she stated.
Ajayi urged stakeholders in the oil and gas sector to invest in new technology to enhance productivity and the ability of operators to exploit opportunities in a sustainable manner. “Asharami is committed to deploying emerging technologies that will enable us protect the environment and improve the wellbeing of the people in the host communities where we operate, while ensuring that our productivity is secure to match our future projections.”
While participating as a panelist at the pre-conference workshop themed; “Emerging Technologies and the Nigerian Oil and Gas Sector,” Asharami Energy’s Exploration Manager, Olabode Matthew said embracing new technology in upstream business had become inevitable given the volatile nature of investments in the sector.
Matthew said a considerable number of exploration and production operating companies have had to cut down on investments or dropped new capital projects on account of unstable oil prices and other socio-political factors.
“To mitigate the long-term impact of reduced to non-existent investments in making new exploration finds, operators in the exploration and production industry need to adopt new strategies that integrate new technological developments. These technologies cut across seismic to simulation, from redesigned seismic data acquisition parameters to new algorithms for time and depth migrated processed data,” he said.
According to him, technology driven solutions will improve efficiency, safety, and productivity as the sector continues to grapple with unfolding challenges and opportunities. “Asharami Energy’s continued deployment of creative technologies paved the way for its most recent exploration milestone where a smart well design led to the drilling of a 3km long reach exploration well. Operators and stakeholders need to collaborate especially in the area of knowledge and data sharing to enhance de-risking opportunities leading to more successful exploration activities,” he added.
Asharami Energy currently operates a total of nine (9) assets across the West African Countries of Nigeria, Ghana and Cote D’Ivoire. These assets are at different stages of the oil and gas life cycle ranging from exploration to development and production with several strategic acquisitions planned.
