OGTAN reaffirms commitment to strengthening human capital development in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry

The need to continuously advance processes that will drive human capital development within the oil and gas sector in Nigeria has been advocated if the sector must continue to remain competitive.

President, oil and gas trainers association of Nigeria, OGTAN, Chris Osarunmewense made the statement in warri, delta state during a networking session of members of the association as parts of activities to herald the official commencement of the OGTAN HCD conference and exhibition 2026. The OGTAN president who noted that human capital develops by progression said the association will continue to work towards pursuing the sole object of developing capacity for the nation’s oil and gas sector.
“It is the moment when we pause from our respective organizations, businesses, institutions, and professional responsibilities, and come together as one community with a shared interest: the people who power Nigeria’s energy industry, and the capabilities required to take the industry into the future” he said.

Speaking further the OGTAN president said warri the delta state capital was chosen as the host choice for the 2026 conference given the strategic position the state has occupied over the years when telling the story of the oil and gas sector in Nigeria, Osarunmewense noted that Niger Delta has, for decades, been at the heart of Nigeria’s petroleum industry.
“The history of petroleum exploration, production, processing, services, technical manpower, and community development in this region is deeply intertwined with the broader story of Nigeria’s energy economy.
Warri, in particular, represents an important intersection of industry, technical capability, communities, institutions, and human capital” declaring that this believe makes it more appropriate to bring international conversations about the future of oil and gas, human capital development to the location wholly embedded in the history and reality of the industry.
“There could hardly be a more suitable environment for international conversations about developing the people who will power Nigeria’s clean energy future” he further emphasised.

While acknowledging that the challenges before the industry are too complex for any single organization to solve, Chris Osarunmewense noted that Government, regulators, gas companies,
Training providers, including Universities and technical institutions acting independently can not on their own solve the challenges confronting the oil and gas sector, saying that what is now needed to define a new roadmap for Nigeria’s oil and gas industry is colloboration across the value chain.

The OGTAN president encouraged participants to take advantage of this year’s conference to explore collaborations.”Explore partnership, share an idea, identify competency gaps, discuss training solutions, and find an opportunity for collaboration” he told members at the networking session.

The 2026 conference under the theme,”Empowering people, driving performance, shaping the future of the oil and gas industry” is jointly organised with the petroleum training institute, PTI, and holding in effurun, delta state, south-south Nigeria.