The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) and international oil companies (IOCs) operating in the country have made commitment to fast-track execution of oil and gas projects. This will lead to an increase crude production and create opportunities for the growth and development of Nigerian Content.
The IOCs gave the assurance when the Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Simbi Kesiye Wabote visited some IOCs in Lagos to seek collaboration and get their commitment to support upcoming projects.
Wabote visited Chevron, Total Upstream and Shell with top management of the Board and confirmed that NCDMB had adopted mechanisms that accelerate processing time for Nigerian Content plans, technical and commercial evaluation and issuance of Nigerian Content certificates.
He urged other entities involved in the contracting cycle to adopt similar strategies for the sector to achieve the six-month contract processing target set by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu. He also expressed the Board’s readiness to partner various stakeholders in resolving challenges they have in executing their projects.
According to him, the visits were conceived to engage stakeholders, and explain strategies adopted by the NCDMB to foster projects and ensure domiciliation of work scopes and maximisation of in-country capacities.
One of those strategies is the categorisation of service companies by their capacities, which he said, will be used in the contracting process.
He stressed that all new projects must comply with the provisions of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act 2010 and urged the operating companies to ensure that their contractors and sub-contractors remit one per cent of their contract value to the Nigerian Content Development Fund (NCDF) as required by law.
The NCDMB chief praised the establishment of pipe coating facilities and steel pipe mills in-country and directed operators to patronise the facilities. He said the Board would sanction operators that award contracts without approved Nigerian Content Compliance Certificates (NCCC).
He also informed the companies that the Board was developing a 5-year Road Map for Nigerian Content development. The final document would be shared with stakeholders for their inputs and identification of roles they will play in the actualization.
Speaking at Chevron, Wabote canvassed for the participation of operating companies in the Nigerian Content Opportunities Fair planned for March 29 and 30 at Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
The goal is to showcase opportunities in upstream, midstream and downstream sectors and provide multinationals the opportunity to link up and utilize in-country capabilities, he said.
He added that “most Nigeria companies do not know when projects will come through so they do not prepare themselves adequately. The fair will provide a platform where we can share information that are not confidential.
At Shell, the team led by the Vice-President Nigeria and Gabon, Mr. Peter Costello discussed the company’s projects, including the Bonga Southwest /Aparo (BSWA). They also officially presented their plans to align the project timelines with the Board, achieve early Final Investment Decision (FID) and carry out joint contracting workshops and in-country capacity re-assessment/revalidation among others.
Speaking at Total, Wabote commended the company for its Nigerian Content achievements on the Egina Deepwater project, which helped to sustain many Nigerian service companies despite the crash of crude oil prices.
Be the first to know when we publish an update
