Defending champions, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), began their campaign in the 19th edition of the Nigeria Oil and Gas Industry Games (NOGIG), yesterday, with a 1-0 defeat of Petroleum Training Institute (PTI).
The game at the football pitch of the SHELL Residential Area, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, was watched by large crowd of industry workers and other football enthusiasts.
In the second match of the opening day, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulation Commission (NUPRC) played out a goalless draw with Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), while TotalEnergies defeated SEPLAT 2-0 in the third game to go top of Group 3.
The matches will continue today with TotalEnergies taking on NLNG in the early morning fixture, with PTI and Shell slugging it out in the second match of the day.
ARADEL will lock horns with NCDMB in a group 4 match while CHEVRON and NMDPRA will do battle in the last Matchday 2 game of the preliminaries.
Speaking after their opening game against NMDPRA, which ended in a draw, NUPRC Captain, Kenneth Gbuhu, said their game plan was to begin with a win, adding, however, that they would make up for the lost points in the next game.
“Our attention has now shifted to our next game against Chevron. We know what is required of us. It’s victory or nothing,” he said.
Representing NNPC management, Deputy Manager, People and Culture, Aishatu Abba Kyari, showered encomiums on the organising committee, admitting that the programme for the event has been flawless.
First Vice Chairman of the Organising Committee, Chido Okoli, said the decision to hold the preliminaries in Rivers State and the final in Abuja was to ensure the participating teams experienced different locations.
“Most of the games have always held in Lagos in the past, due largely to logistics convenience. But we have chosen to come to Rivers State because the facilities are here and it is good for the reputation of Port Harcourt as the oil city of Nigeria,” he said.
