FG Shifts 2021 Petroleum Summit to June

The federal government has postponed the 2021 edition of the Nigerian International Petroleum Summit (NIPS) to June.

The summit will now hold in Abuja from June 6 to 10, 2021 instead of the earlier dates of March 28 to April 1, 2021.

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, who announced the new dates during a special broadcast programme published on the ministry’s social media platforms, said the current global pandemic necessitated the change.

“We have had to re-consider the dates in light of the current global pandemic”, Sylva said.

The theme of the summit: “From Crisis to Opportunities: New Approaches to the Future of Hydrocarbons,” aims at charting the way forward for Africa’s oil and gas industry in the post-COVID-19 pandemic era.

“While it has been a challenging year for the oil and gas industry due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the crisis also provides us with the opportunity to re-define our industry for transformative moments.

“Let us all, therefore, come together under the platform of NIPS 2021 in our quest to return to the attractive industry performance that lifted the entire economy over the years,” Sylva added.

The Managing Director, Brevity Anderson, the producers of NIPS, Mr. James Shindi, said that “economies are going through challenging times and one of the sectors that has witnessed significant challenges is the oil sector, globally and in Africa.”

Shindi posited that the evolving economic situation and challenges could provide an opportunity for African oil producing countries to explore how economies can be diversified away from reliance on oil; maximize the local value-added of the oil; increase cross-border trade and investment between African countries and engender creativity through expanding deployment of renewables in the power sector.

The scope of NIPS 2021 has been expanded to incorporate the latest industry trends and topical issues that are at the forefront of every energy leader’s agenda.

It has also become the platform for industry players for the public and private sectors to interact, transact and develop agenda for government and support Nigeria’s role in galvanising other global players in addressing challenges in the industry.

With the full backing of the federal government NIPS has over the past three editions, witnessed the highest level of attendance by top decision makers, industry leaders and all stakeholders from both the public and private sectors.