Efforts are in top gear to check the rising incidence of companies without experiences executing contracts they do not have competences for in Nigeria’s petroleum industry through certification of skills. Such certifications will be done through collaboration between the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, and Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria, PETAN.
This was disclosed by the PETAN Chairman, Mr.Bank-Anthony Okoroafor, during a press conference on the sidelines of the ongoing Offshore Technology Conference, OTC, which opened Monday, in Houston Texas.
Okoroafor said the move is also a part of the industry’s low cost strategies to deliver quality services, adding that “without the PETAN seal of quality and competence the industry cannot move forward.” He argued that, “With this low oil price regime, we don’t want people to be making mistakes at the job sites, so the PETAN seal of quality and competence is to make sure that when you say you are a service provider, you have competence in terms of services; you have competence in terms of personnel and you can deliver that service satisfactorily with the highest level of safety, quality and quantity.” Explaining the rationale behind the proposed skills certification,
Okoroafor said: “PETAN came up with this seal of competence and quality as a way of qualifying service providers in-country because with the cash squeeze, access to capital is to tight, investments are low, projects are being deferred.
“So the best way to move the industry forward to is to make sure that competent Nigerians are doing the services to ensure that the little reserves we have in terms of foreign exchange are not taken offshore, but are being retained in-country to create jobs for our teeming population.” Certification objective
Okoroafor also said that the main objective of the skills certification is to ensure that: “We leverage on proven Nigerian companies in terms of services. We are not asking for patronage; and we don’t want patronage. We just want the proven and competent Nigerian companies to be given the jobs to do. When you have competent Nigerian companies who can do the job but you give the jobs out then it is criminal.
“In PETAN, we have companies that can deliver values from the wellheads to the tank farms and the entire value chain. So we are not lacking in capacity or capability, it is our responsibility to ensure jobs are given to proven in-country capabilities and capacities because the days of giving contracts to briefcase companies are over.
“Once this happens, it will translate to a lot of jobs creation for our teaming population, it will create a lot of entrepreneurs in-country and that is the best way to fast track development in Nigeria.” He argued further that “PETAN members are very serious companies, who borrowed money, trained personnel, bought equipment and we will keep on pushing the bars, which is why PETAN is embarking on certifying companies in Nigeria.
“So once you have the PETAN seal, you can work anywhere in the world because you will meet all international standards to deliver that service – whether logging, engineering, fabrication, pipelines, seismic etc. once you have that seal, you can deliver that service.” Criteria for certification Okoroafor explained that the criteria for the seal of certification are being worked out between National Petroleum INVESTMENTS MANAGEMENT Services, NAPIMS, the investments arm of the NNPC and PETAN. “We are going to publish the criteria for all to see. For instance, if you are delivering wire logging, the criteria for certification will be for equipment, personnel. So the issue of briefcase companies winning contracts they never bided for is over,” he said.
He added that NAPIMS is desirous to grow in-country capacity, “but to grow the right capacities with proven Nigerian companies.”
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