Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited says it spent over N2billion in 2016 to construct and equipped the Nigerian Institute of Welding, NIW, in a bid to enhance welding technology in-country.
The Managing Director of SPDC and Chairman, Shell Companies in Nigeria, Mr Osagie Okunbor, disclosed this at the 10th Practical Nigerian Content Summit in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
Okunbor while delivering the oil and gas industry address at the Summit, said many strides have been made in developing domestic capacity in the country, adding that there are also so many success stories to that effect.
These strides, according to him, are not only limited to multinationals like SPDC, TotalEnergies, Chevron, ExxonMobil, NAOC and but also indigenous firms like Coleman Cable, DormanLong, Kay-Global etc.
“SPDC Limited in 2016 spent over N2 billion in the construction, upgrade and provision of equipment for the Nigerian Institute of Welding (NIW) in a bid to enhance welding technology in-country.
“With this investment, the institute is now able to perform destructive and non-destructive testing of materials in Nigeria.
“Another laudable project was the establishment of three world-class pipe-mills in-country for the manufacturing of Helical Submerged Arc Welded line pipes. This was a first in Nigeria.”
The SPDC boss expressed optimism that the industry stakeholders with a collaborative effort, can deliver an in-country value addition model, that is worthy of replication globally.
He commended the successes of the NOGICD Act in the last 11years as well as NCDMB for constantly building on the successes of the previous editions of Practical Nigerian Content Summits to deliver additional value at each succeeding editions.
“The Egina Project executed by Total Energies was attested to by the NCDMB to have realized over 50% in Nigerian content, setting new industry benchmarks for a project of its size and magnitude. Egina enabled the domiciliation of new capacities and facilities in-country one of which is the FPSO integration facility located at the LADOL Free Zone. This feat by Total Energies added to the pool of jobs in-country and enabled capital retention.
“ExxonMobil Upstream and its affiliates have, since 2006, supported the training of unemployed Nigerian engineers, through its Engineering Capability Development programme. This programme has enabled the acquisition of project-based engineering skills, allowing young graduates to acquire relevant training suitable for gainful employment.
“On its part, the NAOC JV is working with the NCDMB to provide a 15 megawatts power station for electricity to the Nigerian Oil and Gas Park Scheme (NOGAPS).
“Chevron’s human capacity development programme which is focused on dynamic, positioning training, is another commendable effort in building domestic capacity. With the five-year scholarships it provides for this training, Chevron has successfully trained over 172 Nigerian seamen.
“The launch of a $200 million Nigerian Content Intervention Fund managed for the NCDMB by the Bank of Industry is another commendable initiative set up to boost the financial capacity of indigenous companies with loans at very attractive interest rates, which by extension reduces overall project costs.
“It is important to also recognize the successes from indigenous service companies. For example, DormanLong Nigeria, fabricated the first pressure vessel in-country for the Gbaran Ubie Project. Kay-Global, another indigenous service company is manufacturing fire retardant coveralls in Delta and Rivers States. High quality, locally manufactured low and high voltage cables which are now made by Coleman Cables, MicCom Nig and KableMetal is also worthy of mention.
“These examples are just a few of the giant Nigerian content strides that have been across the industry in the last decade.”
