Tony Ukpo of the public affairs of Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) speaks on the potentials the oil and gas sector value chain have that can develop and increase Nigeria economy. He made the statement in Abuja while speaking to newsmen. Experts;

May we know you officially, sir?

I am Tony Akuma Ukpo of the public affairs department of NUPRC. I will talk to you as a Nigerian and not as a representative of NUPRC.

Do you think that this exhibition will wake up the situation of Nigeria?

Absolutely, The Nigerian Oil and Gas Conference is a conference that has been there for a number of years. And it is a conference that draws together stakeholders from the industry: up stream, mid stream, downstream. All the stakeholders and decision makers in the oil and gas come together for the sole reason.  To put Nigeria oil and gas industry on the map; to increase and develop the economy of Nigeria particularly using the oil and gas value chain.  

Majority of the stakeholders here are stakeholders in upstream, midstream, downstream; different areas of oil and gas. And it is my belief that the conference is going to promote policies, decisions that will foster the economy of Nigeria through oil and gas.

Can you explain the streams in the oil and gas industry?

 In a layman’s term, downstream generally has to do with the end line users of petroleum products. So I will make reference to retail outlet, what you refer to as petrol stations. They will fall under that category because their major responsibility is to distribute refined products to the populace etc.

So that value chain in the oil and gas industry is the downstream sector on a lighter scale.

There are so many other things that downstream do. So that may include the lube, your oil that you use in your car engine.

 The midstream is that value that transports oil from where it’s produced up until it is refined. The refining process is what constitutes the mid stream.     

The upstream on the other hand is the exploration and production which could be deep offshore; it could also be onshore, shallow water.

    So the upstream is where the crude oil is actually explored then piped down to the midstream where it is refined and produced into other usable forms. And it goes straight to the end users who buy it as PMS, DPK (kerosene) and so many other products.