PETAN Chairman, Mr. Nicolas Odinuwe has called on the public and private sectors of the oil and gas industry to help create a ‘new economy’ by merging the country’s abundant natural and human resources that will speed up her growth and development. “In the last decade”, he said, “a shift from natural endowment to a knowledge-based economy has been the driving force for a nation’s growth and development as seen in countries without abundant natural resources who are still excelling due to their focus in human capital development which drives their knowledge-driven economies. There is therefore the need for Nigerian to embrace a ‘new economy’ that merges her natural resources with the development of her human resources to speed up her growth and development”. He was speaking on Human Capacity Development and Knowledge Transfer at the Nigeria Oil International Conference Centre, Abuja, venue of the ongoing Nigeria Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition. Represented by PETAN’s Conference Chairman, Mr. Chinedu Maduakoh, he pointed out that although the adoption of the Local Content Policy as enshrined in the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) was commendable, more still needs to be done. “Even though some progress has been recorded in achieving the provisions of the Local Content Act towards human capital development and knowledge transfer in the country, a lot still needs to be done in areas of aggressive monitoring and implementation/enforcement by relevant authorities”. He pointed out that areas where indigenous Nigerians are to understudy expatriate personnel in oil and gas service operations needs to be strictly implemented by the NCDMB to ensure successful succession as encapsulated in the Local Content Act. He added that there was also the need to address capacity barriers that prevent Nigerian entities from meeting the technical requirements and knowledge to compete favourably in the oil and gas industry. He pointed out other areas that need attention to include intensive and extensive investment in Research and Development to make the objective of technology transfer a reality as well as addressing the gender gaps in the industry. He pointed out that PETAN, as the initiator of Local Content in Nigeria, has been championing the quest for increased local participation on the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry. “PETAN companies and their contractors employ over 20,000 Nigerians of which over 60% are graduates. This has special domino effect on the economy through the use of local inputs, growth of local enterprise and know-how which reduce cost and help maintain standards”. He added that PETAN’s massive impact in Nigeria’s Local Content development is evidenced by its over 90 oil and gas service companies offering over 80,000 collateral employment with over 250 technical services including capabilities in Drilling and Completion, Health, Safety, Security, Environment and Social Responsibility, Management and Information, Project Management, Facilities & Construction, Pipeline, Flowliness & Facilities Production & Operations, Reservoir Description & Dynamics, Training, Project Management across the value chain, while not leaving out linkage sectors such as Catering, Medical services amongst others.