The Petroleum Training Institute (PTI), Effurun, Delta state, on Friday, matriculated 1,793 students for the 2023/2024 academic session.

Dr Samuel Onoji, the acting principal/chief executive of the institute, administered the matriculation oath on the students.

Addressing the students, Mr Onoji urged them to abstain from social vices in the campus, advising them to concentrate on their studies.

Mr Onoji told the students that the management does not condone social vices as provided in the Institute’s Handbook and warned them of the consequences.

According to him, such vices include examination malpractices, physical abuse, bullying, cultism, use of drugs, narcotics and drug peddling.

Others are certificate forgery, indecent dressings, stealing and misuse of social media.

He said PTI is a specialised institute for the training of manpower for the oil, gas and allied industries.

Mr said that the process of repositioning PTI had commenced and emphasised the advantages the students had over their peers in other tertiary institutions.

In his remark, Heineken Lokpobiri, the minister of state for petroleum resources, assured the matriculants that Nigeria would always need their services being the largest producer of Oil and Gas in Africa.

The minister, who was represented by his special adviser, Pereotubo Oweilami, said that Nigeria needed a steady influx of competent technicians and technologists to sustain the current levels of production in the oil and gas industry.

“Globally, Nigeria is the 12th largest producer of oil and largest in Africa. Nigeria also holds the largest natural gas reserves on the continent.

“The Oil and Gas sector plays a significant role in the economy, contributing about 65 per cent of government revenue and over 85 per cent of total exports in Nigeria.

“Furthermore, petroleum contributes 6.63 per cent to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

“This implies that Nigeria needs a steady influx of competent technicians and technologists to sustain the current levels of production and ensure greater ability in harnessing our vast hydrocarbon potentials,” he said.

Mr Lokpobiri, however, assured that the ministry of petroleum resources would continue to render the much needed support to PTI through collaborations and provision of facilities to train middle-level manpower.

(NAN)