Jimitota Onoyume
08 March 2012, Sweetcrude, PORT HARCOURT – INDIGENOUS companies in the country have been enjoined to improve in the area of technology to take full advantage of the opportunities available in the oil and gas sector.
Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, Ernest Nwapa who spoke in Port Harcourt at a programme organised by Vandrezzer Energy Services limited to showcase her EPCI capabilities said indigenous firms should go beyond serving as agents in the oil and gas sector.
He said effort should be made to come up with local facilities for maintenance of marine vessels and so on, noting that there was urgent need for indigenous firms to redefine their roles in the oil and gas industry. Engr Nwapa who expressed satisfaction with the achievement of indigenous logistics companies in the country lauded the management of Vandrezzer energy services limited for its success in EPCI.
He said the firm had been able to achieve within five years of its existence what several firms were still battling to do in ten years. Noting that local content policy of the federal government was all about job creation for Nigerians, Nwapa said it was a strategy by the federal government to get the nation back on track.
Earlier in his address, Managing Director, Vandrezzer Energy Services ltd, Mr Joe Udofia traced the success of his firm to the local content initiative of the federal government.
He said his firm was the “sole contractor handling the OML-90 Field Development Project from FEED and Detailed Engineering Design, through Procurement, to Construction and to the forthcoming Installation.”
Adding that the Wellhead Jacket of the project were part of the practical testimonials of the competence of his firm as an indigenous EPCI service provider.
The Managing Director, Mr Udofia further appealed to banks to support the growth of indigenous firms.
