Decommissioning of Oil and Gas facilities in Nigeria: Challenges and Opportunities

Decommissioning of oil and gas facilities in Nigeria is a relatively new activity. Decommissioning is essentially a set of activities undertaken to manage or dispose aged and worn-out Oil and Gas facilities. The idea of Decommissioning has become paramount in Nigeria due to aging of assets and mature fields operations as they are approaching the end of their economic life. However, presently no facility has ever been decommissioned in Nigeria. Decommissioning is an inherently hazardous exercise that requires meticulous planning, cognate experience, efficient management and other relevant defined skill set for it to be successful. This paper dwells on how to harness the opportunities that come with Decommissioning as well as suggest ways to mitigate some of its challenges. The challenges could be technical, economic, environmental, and legal, but could be further narrowed to include but not limited to poor information management, inadequate regulatory readiness, poor talent management, waste management disposal, lack of previous experience, poor supply chain management, and low portfolio management. While opportunities include securing direct and indirect employment and procurement to home nationals, which in turn could foster the development of local skills, technology transfer, and use of local manpower in capital projects.