President Muhammadu Buhari will on Thursday virtually inaugurate the National Oil and Gas Excellence Centre (NOGEC) Lagos, as part of effort to boost the operations of the Nigeria oil and gas sector.

The Director of Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Mr. Sarki Auwalu, announced this yesterday in a statement signed by the Head of Public Affairs, DPR, Mr. Paul Osu.

Auwalu said the centre was structured to drive the three-prong objectives of safety, value and cost efficiency which are critical for oil and gas industry stability, growth and sustainability.

He said the centre would afford the Nigerian oil and gas industry the crucial elements for competitive advantage in a changing global energy landscape.

“The integrated centre will also entrench Nigeria’s status as regional leader and position the nation for significant global impact in the provision value-added services and breakthrough solutions for the industry in years and decades to come,” he added.

Auwalu also said the NOGEC complex was structured to house the various flagship centres in order to comprehensively cover key areas of the industry.

He listed the flagship centres as Search, Rescue and Surveillance (SeRAS), Command and Control Centre, and National Improved Oil Recovery Centre (NIORC).

Others, according to him, are Oil and Gas Dispute Resolution Centre (DRC) , Oil and Gas Competence Development Centre (CDC), and Integrated Data Mining and Analytics Centre (IDMAC).

The DPR boss further said: “SeRAS is an industry-wide programme established to enhance safety management, emergency preparedness and response as well as bed space management and logistics services across the industry.

“SeRAS will entrench safe practices, drive cost reduction and improve operational efficiency across the industry.

“The SeRAS Command and Control Centre (CCC) established at the NOGEC Centre, Lagos while two other Rescue Coordination Centres (RCC) will be set up at Osubi and Brass, in the first instance, for effective coverage of areas of operations.”

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