NNPC Limited, through its Research, Technology and Innovation (RTI) Division, in collaboration with the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF), today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Sonatrach, the Algerian National Oil Company, for cooperation in research, development, and innovation.
The agreement, signed by NNPC Ltd’s Executive Vice President, Business Services, Sophia Mbakwe, and Sonatrach’s Managing Director, Khodjah Mohamed, establishes a formal framework for joint research and technology exchange between the two national oil companies.
The agreement, which took place during the opening ceremony of the 3rd Meeting of the African Petroleum Producers’ Organization (APPO) Forum for R&D Directors at the PTDF Tower in Abuja, Nigeria, brought together research and development directors from APPO member countries.
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, represented by former Secretary General of APPO, Omar Farouk Ibrahim, said the forum was one of four measures introduced by APPO to address challenges from the global energy transition, which centre on funding, technology and markets.
“The R&D forum tackles technology and expertise needs, the African Energy Bank addresses funding constraints, and the Central African Pipeline System supports regional oil and gas market integration,” Lokpobiri stated.
On his part, the APPO Secretary General, Farid Ghezali, urged African petroleum producing countries to ensure research in the oil and gas sector produced solutions that are practical and directly relevant to the continent. “We must ensure that our research delivers solutions that are practical and of direct use to Africa,” he stated.
Chief Innovation Officer of NNPC Research, Technology and Innovation and incoming Chairman of the APPO R&D Directors Forum, Rasheed Ojulari, said the forum would give immediate priority to joint programmes in the core areas of upstream optimisation, artificial intelligence, decarbonisation processes and industrial systems development.
