The Oil and Gas Service Providers Association of Nigeria (OGSPAN) on Wednesday asserted that the digitalisation of Nigeria’s oil and gas sector would increase transparency and attract more investors to the industry.
Mr Colman Obasi, President, OGSPAN, made the assertion in Lagos at the unveiling of Petrohub, a digital platform set up by the group to facilitate transactions in the petroleum sector.
Obasi said that Nigeria and Nigerian businesses had not been able to take advantage of the huge opportunities in the oil and gas industry due to challenges faced in buying, selling and haulage of petroleum products.
“Sometimes, buyers pay for products that are not available for loading at the depots and send their trucks to go and load only to find out that it is not yet their turn.
“This is one of the major reasons why our ports and depots are congested, which is not good for business, because it causes loss of revenue and tying down of operational funds,” he said.
According to him, the objective of Petrohub is to provide real-time electronic market place where depot owners, suppliers and buyers of petroleum products will transact business with minimal human interference.
Obasi said the platform would make the processes and procedures more efficient by providing live information and data on actual products volume available at depots, pricing and truck ordering for potential buyers.
He maintained that all products owners on the Petrohub platform would be thoroughly vetted, while all payments would be automated via Remitta which would make the transactions more transparent.
“I believe this will help to improve our economy because the downstream sector is very critical.
“Petrohub has economic and social values for Nigerians and that is why we came up with the platform, ” Obasi said. (NAN)
