Amgbare Ekaunkumo, Yenagoa
The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) says it has achieved a 56 percent local content level in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.
Engr.Felix Omatsola Ogbe, the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board(NCDMB) made the disclosure at the opening of 13th Practical Nigerian Content (PNC) Conference and Exhibition holding at the NCDMB Conference Centre, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
The executive secretary assured that the NCDMB remains committed to the Board’s programme, Back to the Creek initiative, aimed at improving the human capacity of indigenes of oil and gas host communities, including scholarships award for high educations learning.
According to him, the Board is also committed to establishing a Revised Community Contractor fund to remove obstacles for community contractors and the establishment of Nigerian Content Academy in order to enhance the capacity of local operators.
He stated that the academy, resident at the NCDMB headquarters in Bayelsa State, offers a range of courses while assuring that the Board would build befitting Zonal Offices in Akwa Ibom State, Rivers State and Delta State.
He said: “This academy is a cornerstone of our commitment to enhancing local capacity in the oil and gas industry, in line with the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act of 2010.
“The Nigerian Content Academy is also a beacon of hope for employment. Our training programs are designed to prepare Nigerians for various roles within the sector, opening doors to new career paths and economic opportunities for local communities.
“Our academy offers a range of courses that cover every aspect of the oil and gas industry, from upstream exploration to downstream processing.
“As part of our commitment to further deepen Nigerian content in the oil and gas industry, we are committing to developing more conducive and befitting Zonal Offices.
“This will enable us to deploy our personnel across various Directorates to operate fully from our Zonal offices thereby making the Zonal offices to be fully operational”.
Similarly, the Minister of State, Petroleum Resources (Gas), Rt. Hon. Ekperikpe Ekpo, said: “Under the exemplary leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Ministry of Petroleum Resources – gas is aligning its policies with the aspirations of Nigerians, ensuring that local content remains a priority in all facets of our energy strategy.
“Through the Decade of Gas Initiative, we are accelerating the development of critical gas assets and infrastructure to further boost production and distribution of gas across the country and for export purposes.
“In the last 12 months, 2 critical gas projects with combined volumes of 600 MMSCF/day were completed”.
According to him, “the projects already inaugurated included SEPLAT ASSA North – 300 MMSCF/Day, SPDC Ohaji south – 300 MMSCF/Day.
“Final investment decisions that will guarantee an additional 420 MMSCF/day of natural gas to existing production have been taken in the SPDC Iseni Project – 90 MMSCF/Day, TOTAL Ubeta Project – 330 MMSCF/Day while the SEPLAT Assa North and SPDC Ohaji South gas plants are already commissioned, critical pipeline infrastructure like the OB3 Gas Pipeline – This is a 48”/36″x 130km pipeline that runs from the Obiafu-Obrikom plant to Oben which sits at 97% completion and AKK – This is a 40″x 614 km pipeline from Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano currently at 77% completion.
“The OB3 Gas Pipeline and the AKK Gas Pipeline both present enormous prospects for local businesses engaged in construction, maintenance, operations, and security services as well as gas-based sectors like gas to power, gas to fertilizer and other manufacturing businesses along the lengthy corridors. By 2030, the country’s current gas production is expected to increase by almost 4 BCF/day, according to the Decade of Gas plans. At this point, we have accomplished 25% of this goal.
“Gas will be the mainstay of Nigeria’s energy shift, and we’re giving local businesses a chance to engage in gas distribution, processing, and power generation.
“The probable replacement for PMS has also been determined to be natural gas in the form of CNG. To encourage other solutions and alternatives to the massive payout from the nation, the President’s inauguration speech prohibited further fuel subsidy payments. The Presidential CNG Initiative has greatly advanced the nation’s cause of switching from PMS to CNG-powered engines”.
In his remark, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, lauded the NCDMB for organising the Forum and for significant milestones recorded thus far since its establishment in 2010. He revealed that wherever he has been across Africa for oil and gas-related events, other countries want to come to Nigeria to learn from its local content success story.
The Minister stated that, on divestments by international oil and gas companies (IOCs) in the country, he said there is no reason to be alarmed as indigenous operating companies have adequately filled the gaps and thus significantly increased the country’s stake in the industry. He said the affected IOCs have not left the country but simply moved their investments and operations from onshore to deep offshore.
The Minister urged industry players to be strategic in their thinking, noting that “quality, standards and capacity developed have to be sustained” if the country is to be able to sustain the gains made so far.
