The National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies is advocating value chain training for young geo-scientists in the mining sector to enhance their skills.

The Director-General of NIPSS, Prof Ayo Omotayo, made the call during the pre-conference panel discussion at the 59th Annual International Conference and Exhibition of the Nigeria Mining and Geosciences Society in Jos, Plateau State, on Monday.

Mr Omotayo, who was the chairman of the panel discussion, urged both public and private sector operators to mobilise resources to train the younger generation to enable them access global opportunities.

He described training as crucial in all sectors to remain relevant, stay abreast of new technology, and foster innovation.

The DG expressed NIPSS readiness to organise capacity building initiatives aimed at formulating policies to advance the mining sector.

Speaking also, Executive Director of Frontier Exploration at the National Petroleum Corporation, Muktar Zanna, said that Nigeria has 37.1 billion barrels of proven crude oil reserves at the beginning of 2023.

Mr Zanna stated this in a paper he presented entitled “Increasing Nigeria’s oil and gas reserves through increased exploration in the inland Basins, ultra deep waters and Infill exploration in the mature Niger Delta.

He said that Nigeria has 202 trillion cubic feet of gas which are reserves from the Tertiary Niger Delta.

”Our national aspiration is to increase the reserve to 40 billion barrels of oil and 250 cubic feet of gas. The practical way to increase the national reserves base is through increased hydrocarbon exploration,” he said.

He said that the Petroleum Industry Act has made a provision of 30 per cent of profit for oil and gas to be dedicated for Frontier Exploration Fund.

According to him, NNPC through its subsidiary, EnServ, is implementing the Frontier Basins exploration activities subject to approval by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission.

The conference with the theme “Emerging Global Perspectives, Trends and Sustainable Development of Minerals and Energy Resources,’’ is from March 17 to March 22.

(NAN)