The Federal University of Petroleum Resources Effurun (FUPRE) in Delta State, Nigeria was established and approved by the Federal Executive Council meeting of 14 March, 2007 by President Olusegun Obasanjo and admitted its first set of undergraduates in 2008.

The university was established under the Federal Government of Nigeria initiative to build a specialized university in the Niger Delta to produce manpower and expertise for the oil and gas sector.

The National Universities Commission(NUC) approved sharing of facilities between the Petroleum Training Institute Effurun and FUPRE until it moved to its permanent site on development of its main campus at Ugbomro, Uvwie Local Government Area in Delta Central senatorial district, Delta state.

Over time, the University has been existing with an act of establishment, therefore lacked legal backing it needs to take its place as a premier oil and gas University the first in Africa and sixth in the world. During the life of the 7th Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the legislature tried all it could to pass the act establishing the University but failed.

At the beginning of the 8th Senate and house of Representatives, the bill came again but, this time robust enough and putting into consideration the immediate need to solve certain key problems in the oil and gas sector which are
1)To train and retrain high level skilled manpower for the oil and gas sector

2) To ensure an increase in local content in the oil and gas sector which is in line with the Federal Government local content initiative

3)To make significant advancement in oil and gas research tailored toward ensuring lasting solutions to recurrent problems in the oil and gas sector

4)To help fill the Manpower gap in critical sectors of the oil and gas sector which may include petrochemical and refining technology, pipeline surveillance and petroleum infrastructure security, environment sustainability and energy research.

Research today is not cheap, and any serious government will invest on target research areas with a core mandate and set goals. This is not easy in a country as complex as Nigeria, which is multi ethnic with different people with different aims some of which are selfish and in turn delay or derail core mandates.
A country like France, with an already diverse economy took a giant step towards petroleum resources research and established the French Institute of Petroleum (institut français du pétrole, IFP)As of 2004, it had 1729 employees, a budget of 253 million euros, and was responsible for a post-graduate training , IFP School (also known as the École du pétrole et des moteurs), and an extensive industrial training programme.
These kinds of huge and significant investment in oil and gas research and training have been replicated by several countries like Iran, Uae, India etc and these universities and training Institute have been properly placed under the supervision and funded by the either the ministry of petroleum or the National oil company in their respective countries like NNPC. This is to ensure that they achieve their target aims and objectives.
In Nigeria, it's about time we face fact as they are holistically.
The Nigerian oil and gas sector is faced with several challenges which significant investment in research and adequate training will solve. For instance, the Federal Government established specialized Universities of Agriculture in several states to provide adequate research into solutions to immediate problems in the agricultural sector of the country. Today, these universities have derailed and several ubiquitous courses have been introduced and the core aim derailed from.
Actually, it is not going to be an easy task to invest in a project like the Federal University of Petroleum Resources, but it will be worth while to do the needful even if it's not convenient, it will surely be a worth wile investment, if properly funded, rightly placed in its servicing ministries, closely supervised by regularly bodies like
1) NUC to ensure quality control in areas of academics, 2) DPR and PTDF to ensure availability infrastructure and facilities
3) NCDMB to ensure transfer of relevant technologies and technical knowledge developed in terms of practical solutions and skilled Manpower. These if done would would be able to chat a new course in the oil and gas industry.

Over the years, billions spent In training and retraining of oil and gas industry staff including technical and managerial will be saved. scholarships by PTDF, NNPC, and other oil companies will be domesticated and local content participation will be encouraged.
The skilled Manpower needed to develop Critical areas in the oil and gas sector will be available locally.

Let's bear in mind that Dangote refining and petrochemical company sent about 400 persons to be trained in petrochemical refining technology overseas . This would have been done if we have the capacity locally.

Forward from the Nigerian Content workshop held in akwa-ibom state organised by the Senate committee on petroleum ( upstream) it was noted that there is a gap between the trainers (Academic and reacherch Institute) and the oil and gas sector,and to ensure adequate local content participation and boost investors confidence, we need to build capacity in order to be able to solve our problems locally.
Finally, it is advisable that these key things be done
1)Federal Government and lawmakers should quit politicizing investment in research in critical sectors of our economy. (party politics should be ditched to ensure holistic impact on our economy)
2)Government should invest significantly in key areas of the economy to ensure economic sustainability, this is foresight and will pay off almost immediately (As of 2004, the French Institute of Petroleum had 1729 employees, and a budget of 253 million euros,)
3)The Federal University of Petroleum Resources was established as a specialized University to solve a particular problem in the most critical sector of our economy.(the aim should not be derailed from. Key courses in petroleum technology should be adhered to and introduced)
4)The best brains should be employed and attracted from the oil and gas industry, the academia and overseas. To achieve this, the University should be able to offer renumeration equal or better than what is obtainable in the oil and gas sector.
5)Capacity should be provided for the University to be able to achieve its core mandate as a specialized University(educational Infrastructures, standard laboratories and staff that can compete n compare anywhere in the world should be put in place)
6)Proper oversight function should be done by the ministry of petroleum resources, petroleum technology development fund, Nigerian content development and monitoring board, and national Universities commission, to ensure quality control
7)The University should be properly placed under the ministry it's servicing. This will ensure close supervision and adherence to the sectors norms and values.

Thank you...
The truth.......

The Federal govt is dilly dallying with respect to this great institution. Infrastructure is zero and manpower development is none existent