The current quota System in use by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries does not give room for the realisation of full Resource potential for Nigeria , the Shell Group has said.

The Managing Director, Shell Production and Development Company and Country Chairman, Shell Group in Nigeria , Mr. Basil Omiyi, who said this in Abuja on Monday, called for a renegotiation of the country’s quota with OPEC.

Nigeria’s current OPEC quota is 2.4million barrels per day, with its crude Oil reserves at 35billion barrels.

The Shell Chief said, “The Development of Oil and Gas in the past has been driven by OPEC quota, and this does not allow for the realisation of full Resource potential.

“There is the need for a serious negotiation with OPEC that allows for full realisation of potential Resources , since Energy is the catalyst for a developed nation.”

Omiyi spoke on “Optimising Oil and Gas Potential,” at the 2007 Society for Petroleum Engineers conference.

“Nigeria is still very much under-explored in terms of hydro-carbon Resources ,” the Shell Chief said.

He said this was evident in the number of Companies that were coming into the country, and the fact that the existing Companies were still finding New significant discoveries.

Omiyi stated that with the deployment of New Technologies , especially the 4D seismic, more discoveries would be made.

“There Are a lot of New things we do not yet understand deep down, and with New Technologies , we can begin to discover more things,” he said.

According to him, the current Technology deployment level is about 35 per cent, and needs to be increased to at least 70 per cent.

He also wants such high level of technological deployment to be replicated in Gas Development since Nigeria is reputed as more of a Gas zone than Oil .

For Nigeria to realise its full potential, Omiyi said, there were other issues to be considered, such as Security in the Niger Delta and the Nigerian content.

He said there was equally environmental issue, in view of carbon dioxide emission leading to the depletion of the ozone layer and Global warming.

“As a result of the Global problem, some Oil Companies were beginning to establish CO2 departments to proffer solution to the Global warming, through Technology ,” he said.

Omiyi also underscored the need for more Investment in Research and tertiary Education , both of which, he said, would be driven by people and Technology .

The President, SPE Worldwide , Dr. Abdul Al-Khalifa, who was visiting Nigeria for the First time, called for a paradigm shift in Oil and Gas operations from a Commercial and Business orientation, to a people-oriented one.

He said that in view of the world Energy crises, there was the need to engage more people and Technology in Oil and Gas Development .

Al-Khalifa stated that given the Rising Energy demand there were many challenges including increasing reserve and production and Global climatic change – which he said had increased by1.5 degree centigrade since 1990.

He described the challenges as alarming.

The Minister of State for Petroleum , Mr. Odein Ajumogbia, making his First Public remarks said Government had noted the challenges facing the Industry and would work with professionals like the SPE to proffer solutions.

He added that given Government ’s policy thrust and New production targets, Government was willing to work and negotiate with private Investors and on how best to achieve results.