The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), on Monday, commended Nigeria for ranking third among member countries in data submission.
OPEC Governor for Nigeria, Dr Omar Ibrahim, disclosed this at the OPEC Data Management Training Workshop in Abuja.
Ibrahim said Nigeria had done well in the provision of credible data in the Oil and Gas sector.
“We have always lagged behind most OPEC countries in data submission as well as the accuracy of data that we have been submitting.
“But in the last three years, things have changed. OPEC is very happy with us; the accuracy of our data has improved tremendously.
“Also, the timeliness of the submission of our data has improved tremendously. I believe that as at today we are the third in the hierarchy of data submission,’’ he said.
Commenting on the training, Ibrahim said that the major focus would essentially be on every part of data from crude oil production, Nigeria’s GDP and oil consumption.
Other areas, he said were in gas, refinery run and virtually everything about oil.
Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Folasade Yemi-Esan, said that the ministry had been working with relevant agencies to ensure accuracy in data collection.
She named the agencies to include the Central Bank of Nigeria, National Bureau of Statistics, Debt Management Office, among others.
She expressed joy over OPEC’s commendation of the credibility of the data presented by the Nigerian government to the organisation.
“This underscores the purpose of this training workshop; we want to be sure we are doing the right thing,’’ she said.
The Permanent Secretary regretted that some stakeholders were yet to appreciate government’s effort at ensuring credible and vast depository of data in the country.
She urged OPEC to ensure that the training exposed participants to more valuable ways of gathering data in the country.
“This will go a long way to help us in planning and making good decision in the oil and gas sector in our dear country,’’ Yemi-Esan added.