In the last decade, Nigeria has reduced the number of expatriates in the petroleum industry by 80%, being part of the achievements of the local content policy introduced since 2010.
Confirming this development in Abuja yesterday, Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, Engr Simbi Wabote, said today, Nigerians now occupy key positions and deliver critical services in the industry.
Wabote who presented his scorecard at a press briefing said before his board started implementing the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development, (NOGICD) Act, oil welding activities was done outside the country. “Nigeria did not have world-class welding facilities.
Today, we are able to fabricate about 60,000 metric tonnes per annum in Nigeria, which never existed before. We have about five world-class welding yards as we speak today. These welding facilities can compete with any of its peers outside this country.
“Today, 95% of service companies in the oil and gas sector, be it onshore and swamp drilling activities; well intervention facilities, well simulation activities and all that, are been done by Nigerians. These were the exclusive preserve of multinational companies like Schlumberger, Haliburton and what have you; but Nigerians have taken all those responsibilities in the land and swamp areas in terms of drilling.
“When we talk about operations of the upstream sector; in the past it was the multinationals that were operating all the fields that we have. Today, we have truly Nigerians who are now operating those fields. Today, they account for almost about 25% to 30% of oil production in the country, not to talk about domestic gas production. Today, margin fields are also being produced by Nigerian companies, adding molecules to oil production.
Still on his scorecard, Wabote said NCDMB has intervened in the face-off between the Lagos Deep Offshore Logistics Base (LADOL) and Samsung Heavy Industry (SHI), assuring that the conflict will be resolved before September end.
LADOL, who is the operator of the LADOL Free Zone in Lagos, had in September 2018 sent SHI packing from the Free Zone upon the allegation that the latter’s license to operate in the zone had expired. LADOL also claimed that SHI did not meet the minimum requirement for its licence to be renewed
Infuriated as it were, SHI headed to court challenging LADOL’s action. Ever since the matter had lingered with none of the parties willing to shift ground. Orient Energy Reviewgathered that even the intervention of Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment and other stakeholders yielded no results. Engr. Simbi Wabote said the Board is currently driving the reconciliation process and was hoping to resolve the issue before the next one month.
“Currently we are working to resolve the conflict. NCDMB is on the driving seat. Until we achieve that, I will not be able to say what is being done currently. In the next one month, we will at least know where we are on that issue. We are actively been the fulcrum in being able to resolve that issue and I believe it would be resolved very soon,” he said
He further explained that the NCDMB was working to ensure that payments were made promptly to indigenous companies for services delivered to big firms, noting that over the last two years, the situation had improved. He blamed the delay in payment to local firms to the challenges recorded in the settlement of Joint Venture Cash Calls, which hampered the ability of JV partners to pay their contractors.
Since the resolution of the JV Cash Call issue and the adoption of a new model for settlement of the cash calls, he opined, payments to local firms and contractors had improved significantly.
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