OpeOluwani Akintayo
Lagos — Over 20 host community contractors have continuously been engaged in the provision of services that range from the construction of pipelines, solid control, filtration, bound wall construction, marine vessels & houseboats, flow stations maintenance, diesel supply, and the provision of manpower in the ongoing Eroton Exploration & Production Company Limited entrepreneurship program.
In a release signed by the firm’s Corporate Communication Lead, Masade Odianosen, it said the value of service contracts it had awarded and have been executed by community contractors is over six billion naira from 2016 to July 2020- this the firm said is aside from its investments in corporate social responsibility initiatives over same period.
The programme has been put in place to ensure that entrepreneurs from its host communities acquire relevant entrepreneurial and management skills, actively participate in projects/services and have access to capital through invoice discounting agreements with key financial institutions.
Speaking, its Chief Executive Officer, Ebiaho Emafo said, “as guests of our host communities, we have a duty to engage community contractors fairly in the award of contracts and this is enshrined in our GMoUs. We have a mandate to ensure that community contractors receive opportunities to tender for work of a type and complexity appropriate to their abilities while continuously developing their ability to deliver on more complex projects in line with Eroton’s requirements. This is all done with Eroton as operator ensuring prudence and probity”.
According to him, Eroton’s entrepreneurship program continues to make a positive social impact on its host communities, contributing to local business development, job creation and capacity development.
He explained that keeping faith with the terms of the Global Memorandum of Understanding, GMoU between the firm and its sixty communities through the five Cluster Boards, CDBs is the key reason Eroton enjoys a very cordial relationship with its hosts.
“This cordial relationship has yielded an outstanding growth in production from 10kbopd to 75kbopd at peak production following the acquisition of the asset in 2015”, he said.
“We are currently facing an unprecedented public health crisis where communities and businesses across the globe are navigating through the uncertainties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said on the current health crisis caused by the pandemic, as he advised the communities to “stay healthy and keep the spirit high”.
Eroton operates the OML 18 oilfield that covers a total area of 1,035 SQKM offshore Eastern Niger Delta (Swamp/Shallow Water) on behalf of the NNPC/Eroton Joint Venture (JV).