ExxonMobil University Programme produces seven new geological maps

Seven new maps have been published by the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency through the University Partnering Programme (UPP) of the ExxonMobil affiliate, Esso Exploration & Production Nigeria Limited (EEPNL).

Speaking at the launch of the new maps during the 2015 Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE) Conference in Lagos on Thursday, Mr. Andrew Ejayeriese, General Manager, Exploration, EEPNL, said the new maps signified “the outstanding success of an innovative social investment vehicle we introduced to help improve on the quality of Geoscience education in the Nigerian university system”.

“We are delighted that seven new maps produced from the UPP field trips have passed the exacting scrutiny of the relevant authorities and have now been published, increasing the number of published maps from the programme to 16”, he said.

ExxonMobil introduced the UPP in 2007 as a means of supporting Nigerian universities in providing the highest quality of Geoscience education standards. The programme is currently being run in 14 Nigerian universities.

According to Mr. Ejayeriese, the new maps illustrate “the remarkable productivity of the UPP , not just in terms of the invaluable knowledge the students must have gained in the course of fieldwork analysis and map-making process, but also the significant contributions these maps will make to the provision of a quality and reliable database for Nigeria”.

“The fact that these maps will be very useful for mineral exploration and other industry-relevant investigations,” he continued “gives the added relevance to our oil and mining industries”.

Mr. Ejayeriese said the success of the programme had strengthened the company’s resolve “to extend this partnership to every public university in Nigeria in due course in our determined quest to ensure that Nigerian Geoscience graduates can stand on equal competitive footing with their counterparts from the best universities across the globe”.

He said that ExxonMobil affiliates had - through the UPP and a related programme, the University Assistance Programme (UAP) - invested over N9.2 billion in the Nigerian university system “and we are committed to investing much more for the overall benefit of the Nigerian university system”.

“ExxonMobil affiliates in Nigeria have also invested over N5 billion in scholarship awards to students for their studies at secondary and tertiary educational levels, both in Nigeria and in leading universities internationally.” He added. “We do these because of our firm belief that given the right level of educational support, Nigerians have all its takes to transform the nation into its deserved status as one of the leading economies of the world.”

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