Oscarline Onwuemenyi 20 January 2016, Sweetcrude, Abuja – The Nigerian Content Monitoring Board, NCDMB, is working to ensure the viability and profitability of new projects despite dwindling oil prices in the international market, according to its Executive Secretary, Mr. Denzil Amagbe Kentebe.
He also disclosed that as the country enters 2016 and so long as the price of oil remains low, the Board’s challenge would be to device strategies that will accommodate local content, adding that his team was engaging the International Oil Companies, IOC’s, and partner with them on that.
“The Board will continue implementation of its Capacity Development Initiatives (CDIs), to create a robust local supply chain that will meet the human and material requirements of the industry within acceptable cost, schedule and without compromising safety, environment and quality.
“On manufacturing and infrastructure development, we are implementing several initiatives to domicile manufacturing activities, to achieve in-country value addition,” he said.
Kentebe maintained that the board will stimulate local pipemill manufacturing from 100,000Mt/ annum in 2010 to 270,000Mt/annum while also noting that effort to develop Polaku Pipemill and the efforts of 3rd party investors will be aggressively pursued in 2016, to achieve 600,000Mt/ annum local capacity by 2017 (compared to annual demand estimate of 800,000Mt/annum).
The NCDMB boss explained that the Board will work towards establishing oil and gas parks to support service providers interested in manufacturing activities, adding that the Board has acquired suitable land in three states – Imo, Bayelsa and Cross River states; and have commenced training of SMEs for the scheme.
