PTDF spends $25m on workshops, conferences

Katsina – The Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) has spent 25 million dollars on international conferences and workshops in the last eight years, its Executive Secretary, Alhaji Muttaqa Darma, has said.

Darma disclosed this on Monday in Katsina at the on-going International Conference on Renewable Energy.

Represented by Alhaji Balarabe Ahmad, an official of the fund, the executive secretary said 523 major stakeholders in the oil industry were sponsored to such conferences and workshops abroad.

He said it was part of efforts by the PTDF to advance the knowledge of Nigerian professionals and other stakeholders in the mainstream and downstream sectors of the petroleum industry.

“At present, Nigeria is the 6th largest producer of crude oil, the 7th largest producer of natural gas and the first largest exporter of crude oil in Africa.

“Statistics shows that daily production of crude oil in Nigeria stands at about 2.7 million barrels per day and that the petroleum industry is contributing about 95 per cent of the nation’s foreign earnings”, he stated.

Prof. Muuta Ibrahim, the Vice Chancellor, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua University, Katsina, said the Ibrahim Shema Centre for Renewable Energy Research of the institution was designed to provide basic skills, training and research facilities in renewable energy technology.

He added that the centre is equipped with facilities to promote research on renwable energy.

Participants at the conference are drawn from the U.S., Canada, Britain, Tunisia, Mali and Niger republic, as well as experts from various Nigerian universities. (NAN)