OpeOluwani Akintayo
20 June 2018, Sweetcrude, Lagos — The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, NCDMB, and the National Petroleum Investment Management Services, NAPIMS, are working together on the need for new projects to sustain the capacities that have been developed in the Nigerian oil and gas sector.
They are also working closely to see new projects come on stream quickly.
Executive Secretary, NCDMB, Engr. Simbi Wabote, disclosed this at the commissioning of the Offshore Loading Terminal, OLT, buoy for the multi-billion dollar Egina deepwater project in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
The buoy, fabricated by an indigenous company, Aveon Offshore, will be used to offload crude oil from the Egina Floating Production Storage and Offloading, FPSO, vessel.
The Egina project is planned to come on stream later this year and will boost Nigeria’s oil output by 200,000 barrels per day.
Wabote, who stressed the need for projects to come on stream quickly, stated that the Egina project has provided good opportunity for Nigerian companies to demonstrate their capacity and maturity since the enactment of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development, NOGICD, Act in 2010.
Besides Egina, Nigeria is currently targeting the takeoff of Zabazaba, Bonga South-West, Ekike and Owowo projects, which, on completion, will further grow the nation’s oil production.
Speaking on Aveon Offshore’s completion of the fabrication of the OLT buoy, Wabote said the company has recorded a new Nigerian Content feat with the fabrication of the buoy in Nigeria and the first to be delivered ahead of schedule and launched on a dedicated slid way.
He commended Aveon Offshore for another sterling execution of a project, saying: “With an assemblage of over 1,300 tonnes of steel for this buoy, I am happy you did not cave in under the weight of the challenges but you have once again proved your mettle.”
He noted that many other Nigerian service companies has so far performed creditably on different scopes of the Egina deepwater project.
“This flagship project has provided a good opportunity for Nigerian companies to demonstrate their capacity and maturity since the enactment of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development, NOGICD Act in 2010,” he said.
Wabote charged Nigerian oil and gas service providers to always deliver on any project they are contracted to work on, stressing: “It is one thing to win a contract; it is another thing to deliver the contract scope timely and safely.”
He also expressed hope that future projects such as Zabazaba, Bonga South-West, Ekike, Owowo and others would utilise the capacities already developed in meeting and exceeding the Nigerian Content targets stipulated in the Nigerian Content Act.
The executive secretary commended Total for its disposition towards the development of Local Content in the Nigerian oil and gas industry. “Total remains at the forefront of pushing the boundaries of the local content practice and we are proud of the various Nigerian Content achievements under the Egina project despite the initial challenges,” he said.
He counselled other operators to adopt a similar attitude in the delivery of their projects, focusing on what can be done to comply with the law rather than looking for ways to circumvent the provisions of the law.
