Odulaja Dapo, Head, Data Service Department, Research Division of Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), on Thursday said non-transparency with data in the energy industry is a major contributor to price fluctuation in the country.
Odulaja explained in Abuja at the ongoing Nigeria international Petroleum summit that the energy industry has gone through cycles of price fluctuation which is not convenient for both producers and consumers stressing on the data intensive nature of the industry.
According to him,”The industry has gone through cycles of price fluctuation and this is not convenient for the producers and consumers alike. There is need to promote more data collection as the industry is becoming data intensive”.
He pointed out Africa should not be left behind in the contribution to data gathering initiative that was recently launched by OPEC and others adding that the initiative is being embraced by more countries but only few contribution from from the Africa countries.
He further stressed the need for a unified system of data collection in Africa adding that there is also a need for data operators to be trained and retrained on how to handle, process and disseminate relevant data.
Also in his remarks,Mohammed Tumala, Director of statistics at the Central Bank of Nigeria,CBN explained that the future of a nation is determined by what it decides to do with its available data adding that petroleum data plays a vital role in the economy of Nigeria.
He ,however, noted that the challenges facing the data system in Africa is lack of Integrity, Consistency and Standardization of data explaining that it is necessary for a nation’s data to be accurate and reliable when compared to data from other countries. Adding that there is currently a fight against cyber intrusion which breeds insecurity in data dissemination.
He said ” Some of the challenges we face in data gathering and dissemination is lack of consistency, integrity and lack of standard data, as the data of a nation can as well be useful to other countries. We also have to fight with cyber intrusion which brings data insecurity”.
Meanwhile,Yemi Kale the Statistician General of the Federation represented by Lola Tolabi said the agency is working with other ministries, departments, and agencies in collecting and disseminating relevant data to the public.
Kale identified data harmonization, integrity and timeliness as major challenges in data gathering and dissemination processes in the country. Stressing that the way people accounts for data in the country poses as a challenge, as it is difficult to get everyone involved in data collection to discuss extensively on the reported data before dissemination of such data to the public.
” Most of our challenges include lack of integrity, commitment, timeliness and harmonization of data. Most times the data may be correct but the way it is accounted for May be the problem, also getting everyone together to discuss on the collected data is always a challenge, “Kale noted.
FRANK UZUEGBUNAM, HARRISON EDEH & CYNTHIA EGBOBOH, ABUJA
