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  • NNPC, NCDMB, IOCs sign pact to reduce contracting circle

    NNPC, NCDMB, IOCs sign pact to reduce contracting circle

    In a major boost for the nation’s oil and gas industry, the NNPC Limited and the Nigerian Content Development & Monitoring Board (NCDMB) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the International Oil Companies (IOCs) to reduce contracting cycle to an optimal level of not more than 180 working days.

    The MoU, which was executed yesterday at the NNPC Towers in Abuja, was a demonstration of NNPCL’s commitment to the efficiency mandate as enshrined in the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), which is hinged on developing an industry framework for an optimised contracting cycle.

    This was contained in a  statement the NNPCL management in Abuja.

    According to the statement, an optimised contracting cycle is expected to improve the ease of doing business, reduce cost and drive efficiency which will eventually translate to production growth, increased revenues, and ultimately improved profitability.

    The management explained that the  “MoU is also expected to contribute significantly to the double-digit economic growth rate agenda of the Federal Government and generate tremendous value for all the stakeholders which include investors, companies, host communities and the nation at large.

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    “Key benefits of the framework in the MoU include a reduction of the contracting cycle for open competitive tender, selective tender, and single sourcing tender to 180, 178, and 128 working days compared with the current best effort performance of 327, 333, and 185 working days.”

    Speaking at the MoU signing, the GCEO NNPC Ltd., Mr. Mele Kyari said signing the agreement heralds exciting times for the nation’s oil and gas industry and stands as a bold testimony that the Company is plunging into the future of hope, productivity and success.

    Kyari, who was represented at the occasion by NNPC Ltd’s Executive Vice President, Upstream, Mrs. Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, added that with oil and gas as the bedrock of Nigeria’s economy, there is the need to get the contracting process in the Industry right so as to get the economy back on track.

    In his remarks, the Executive Secretary, NCDMB, Engr. Simbi Wabote, described the MoU signing as a way forward and a critical step towards enhancing the nation’s crude oil production.

    In their various remarks, the IOCs, represented by the MDs/Country Chairs of Shell, ExxonMobil, Chevron, TotalEnergies and ENI all pledged their commitment and support towards the implementation of the MoU for the benefit of all parties.

    The framework is in line with the Nigerian Upstream Cost Optimization Program (NUCOP) and in consonance with Mr. President’s directive for NNPC Ltd. and NCDMB to engage the industry with the objective of improving the performance of the petroleum industry.

    The development is also in line with the key mandates of NNPC Ltd under the PIA’s Article 53 (7) which empowers it to operate as a commercial entity in a profitable and efficient manner, as the National Energy Company.

    The mandate for efficiency requires that NNPC Ltd. is committed to working with its partners in ensuring key processes, procedures, and timelines that drive major business activities such as contracting, are structured in a manner that engenders efficiency and drives profitability.

  • NCDMB to complete skills development Centre soon

    NCDMB to complete skills development Centre soon

    Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, has commended the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) for its intervention in the construction of the proposed Centre for Skills Development and Training (CSDT) at Omagwa, Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State.

    The project, initiated by the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) to promote acquisition of skills relevant to oil and gas industry operations, has been under construction since 2011.

    It received a  boost with the entry of the NCDMB as co-financier after due negotiations with the PTDF.

    Disciplines earmarked for the CSDT by the PTDF include automobile works, basic electrical works, basic requirements in Health Safety and Environment (HSE), catering, electronics repairs, masonry, seismic survey technology, welding, and fabrication.

    Among magnificent structures at the project site are an 8-storey Administrative Block, multistorey classroom blocks, hostels and staff quarters, workshops, and a cafeteria.

    At 85 percent completion, the scope and quality of work done were impressive to the Minister, who arrived at the project site on facility tour, but he was displeased that project execution has stalled because of wrangling between the PTDF and contractors over variation-related issues and prolonged delays in payment. 

    The Minister who was accompanied on the tour by the Executive Secretary, NCDMB, Engr. Simbi Kesiye Wabote, and the Executive Secretary of PTDF, Aminu Ahmed Galadima, said the project was of great significance and does not have to remain uncompleted any longer.

    “We have to move forward,” he stated, adding that “further intervention by the Board is necessary to reap the full benefits of the investments already made.

    After interrogation of some contractors and confirmation by the PTDF boss that funds are now available for payment to one of them, Senator Lokpobiri extracted a commitment from the latter that the outstanding section of work would be completed within six weeks.

    Overall, for the Centre to be successful in fulfilling the aims for its establishment, he said, “We have to set up a sustainable management structure that will keep the facility at a globally acceptable standard.”

    Speaking earlier on how NCDMB became involved in the project, Engr. Wabote said it was the determination of the Board to check the proliferation of vocational centres, which were as many as 250 in the three states of Rivers, Bayelsa and Akwa Ibom.

    Most of them, he noted, were non-functional even though they had been completed and equipped. Equipment in all had been stolen or vandalised, so it became necessary to establish standardized and federal government-backed vocational centres at strategic locations.                                   

    NCDMB, according to him, had signified its preparedness to take over CSDT when it became apparent that the feuding parties, PTDF and its contractors, could not resolve their differences.

    He expressed optimism that the work would progress smoothly after the facility visit, and an effective management would be put in place at the time of take-off.

  • NCDMB commissions ICT centres in Akwa Ibom

    NCDMB commissions ICT centres in Akwa Ibom

    To deepen Internet penetration and digital education in the country, the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has commissioned three state-of-the-art Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Centres, with dedicated broadband Internet, in three rural secondary schools in Akwa Ibom State.

    The benefiting institutions are Girls High School, Ikot Ibiok, Northern Annang Secondary Commercial School, Utu-Etim-Ekpo, and Government Technical College (GTC), Ikot Uko-Ika.

    For each of the schools a dedicated block, fully air-conditioned and well-secured with protectors and reinforced metal windows, serves as the ICT centre.

    Each of the Centres has 31 units of desktop computers, 31 purpose-built desks and 31 seats, two stools, 25 solar panels (already installed), two 20kVA inverters with 30 pieces of battery, a 20kVA generator, and a server unit.

    Others are a printer and a scanner, a router and a dish for Internet services, and a giant smart screen display board with vast teaching and learning potentials.

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    Many of the 13,000 beneficiaries so far have become successful professionals and entrepreneurs in the industry and related sectors of the economy, including the maritime.

    The Executive Secretary, NCDMB, Engr. Simbi Kesiye Wabote, told management and staff of Girls High School that the mandate of the Board centres on local capacity development and that it has a deliberate policy to make students familiar with digital tools for learning as a way of enhancing their competitiveness as they progress in education.

    The NCDMB boss, who was represented by the Board’s General Manager, Corporate Communication and Zonal Coordination, Angela Okoro, said the ICT Centres would make it possible for the students to have access to the current state of knowledge in all subject areas, as the smart screen and dedicated broadband Internet provide access to the latest publications and research results.

    In his own remarks, the NCDMB Zonal Coordinator for Akwa Ibom and Cross River States, Mr. Uduak Obot, said, “It is a thing of joy to start a thing and complete it,” recounting how work on the ICT Centres began few months ago and had thus far been completed.

    A spokesperson for the community, Obonganwan Ekaette Nduese Essien, wife of a former Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, said the commissioning was a historic development for the community as it had raised the standard of the school.

    At Northern Annang Secondary Commercial School and the Government Technical College, NCDMB restated its history and mandate, and explained the importance of the ICT Centres donated to the schools.

    The managements of the schools, students and communities who were appreciative of the development pledged to protect the facilities.

  • 60% of trainees get job, says NCDMB

    Sixty per cent of the participants in the Smart Electrical Engineering Training organised by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) have secured employment, its Executive Secretary, Simbi Kesiye Wabote, has said.

    Four of the 50 engineers secured international placements with BIC Electric and now work in Europe, while other participants got employment in Nigeria with AOS Orwell, Daystar Power Group, Eauxwell, Jubaili Bros and PNN amongst others, he added.

    The six-month classroom and on-the-job training was conducted at the Lagos Energy Academy (LEA) by AOS Orwell, an oil and gas servicing company for NCDMB. The second batch of 50 engineers would commence their training in September at the same location. The beneficiaries, like all other trainees of NCDMB, were selected from the Nigeria Oil and Gas Industry Joint Qualification System (NOGICJQS) and underwent qualifying tests and interviews.

    Wabote, at the certificate presentation held in Lagos, commended AOS Orwell for the success recorded with the Smart Electrical Engineering Training.

    He described it as a validation of the Board’s new model for human capacity building, which emphasises the delivery of training with a line of sight to employment opportunities.

    He stated that the Board had adopted a 60-20-20 model for human capital development, whereby 60 percent of the training expenditure and efforts gets devoted to programmes that guarantee jobs for the participants.

  • NCDMB, Notore explore investment opportunities

    The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has pledged support to Notore Chemical Industries Plc to develop its industrial complex to offer integrated services to oil and gas companies, and increase its contributions to the agricultural and infrastructural sectors.

    NCDMB Executive Secretary Simbi Kesiye Wabote said this when he visited the company in Eleme, Rivers State. He also took extensive ground and aerial tour of the facilities.

    The agro-allied, petro-chemicals and power company, he said, has bigger potential for industrialisation, because it has natural gas resources, generates its electricity and has been granted free trade zone status.  Wabote added that the ample land mass and other assets positioned the complex to host allied industries. It will also serve as a logistics base for key oil and gas operations.

    He said: “This facility is just 15 kilometres to NLNG in Bonny, so there is potential to participate in the NLNG Train 7 project. There is vast land here, so you can also have accommodation for projects. This location could become a staging ground for most of the NLNG construction that would happen.”

    Wabote suggested that the Notore’s facility could also be considered for the execution of SNEPCo’s Bonga-Southwest Aparo’s deep water project. “That project would also happen and we are looking for draft and you have it here. There are potentials for ancillary factories that support the oil and gas sector.”

    Recalling that the complex suffered poor management when it operated as the National Fertiliser Company of Nigeria (NAFCON), Wabote commended the current management for revitalising the assets and expressed delight that key operations of the fertiliser plant were being run by Nigerians.

    He said: “All the people manning the operations are Nigerians. The feeling is unbelievable and this is what we talk about in NCDMB in terms of industrialisation and the synergy we must build across sectors. This is one of those companies that are changing the face of Nigeria in terms of agriculture. What the company does and the impact to our economy is unbelievable.”

    Notore Chemical Plc Group Chairman Mr. Onajite Paul Okoloko thanked the executive secretary for the visit.

    He explained that Notore’s assets straddled across the agricultural, oil and gas and infrastructural sectors, and the management was striving to build a second fertiliser plant, which would increase support to farmers with high-yield fertilisers and best practices.

    Okoloko said the company was determined to build an industrial city and commercialise some of its assets, which include the 560 hectares of land and two kilometres of water front.

    According to him, “the larger picture from one of our subsidiaries, Notore Industrial City, is to create an industrial chemical estate. Our free trade zone is rated number 1 by Pricewaterhouse Coopers in the sense that it has a deep river port, 10.5 meters of tradable draft, with direct access to the ocean. We also have 560 hectares of land and is the only free trade zone in the country that has gas and power.

    “In our estate you can have fertiliser plants and petrochemicals because we have the gas infrastructure so you can use that as raw material. At the same time we have a logistics base that can support the oil and gas industry. So, we have the logistics on one hand and the commercialisation of gas which is being flared in the country, so this becomes a gas hub.”

    He said the company would work with various stakeholders to “optimise the location to create significant amount of industrialisation, which is key to the economic growth of the country and at the same time, employ a huge amount of local skills to support the facility we have here.”

  • Content Board to OGTAN: implement standardised approach to capacity development

    The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has identified approaches the Oil and Gas Trainers Association (OGTAN) should adopt to make training in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry meet globally acceptable industry standards.

    NCDMB Executive Secretary, Simbi Wabote, in his presentation on “Human capital development as a driver for national transformation”, theme of OGTAN’s 2nd annual international conference  and exhibition, which held in Lagos, noted that the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act supports local capacity development.

    According to him, the NOGICD Act provisions on human capital development are contained in Sections 10 (1)b, 28, 29, and 40, which stipulate that Nigerians shall be given first consideration for training and employment in any project executed by any operator or project promoter in the Nigerian oil and gas industry. He, however, noted that OGTAN as the nation’s premier training organisation, must ensure the implementation of a structured and standardised approach to human capacity development in the oil and gas industry.

    He said: “To operate as a Training Business Group, OGTAN must interface with key stakeholders, including local and international organisations, academia, and government agencies, as well as promote opportunities for on-the-job training through collaborative efforts with operating and service companies in Nigeria.”

    To him, for OGTAN to excel, it must adopt the seven Cs policy – categorisation, certification, compliance, collaboration, competency, curriculum and cost.  Wabote said: “Use the next one year to complete the categorisation of the training facilities on offer by OGTAN members.  At least, ensure 50 per cent increase in recognisable certification of your course offerings within the next two years and demonstrate full compliance with the NOGICD Act and any other laws of the land.

    “On collaboration, share facilities, resources, and ideas among yourselves as well as with external parties. Collaborate with the industry to secure and utilise subject matter experts to augment your training resource and ensure competence, OGTAN should take it upon itself to organise refresher and ‘Train the Trainer’ courses for its members.

    “Curriculum launch of the OGTAN training compendium at the next conference with a listing of all the courses on offer with their certifications will be very important, while such training must offer value for money. Deploy technology as necessary to drive down your cost.

    “Note that it is recognised that the government has implemented several initiatives to address our educational challenges, but the private sector has a big role to play in the delivery of quality education and training. There is opportunity to leverage the huge appetite for education and training to reprioritise focus areas and redistribute responsibilities. Human capacity development is the route via which we transform human liabilities into human capita.”

    He said Warren Buffet recognises what 50 per cent of human capacity has achieved for America and imagine what 100 per cent can achieve, same principle is applicable to Nigeria.

    OGTAN President, Dr. Mayowa Afe, said: “On our part and for the purpose of improved training service deliveries and value to our members, OGTAN is currently embarking on categorisation of our members in conjunction with all stakeholders. Issuance of guidelines for standardisation of training/establishment of National Occupational Standard (NOS) in conjunction with NCDMB and other stakeholders, and fostering collaboration between regulatory bodies, academia and the oil & gas industry, to help close the gap between university education and the practical requirements of the oil and gas industry.”

    Afe said OGTAN’s challenges include the perceived notion that anything local or Nigerian is not good enough coupled with Nigerians’ attitude for foreign training for reasons of personal gains in preference to patronage and development of local capacities and capabilities. Funding has also impeded the tooling, training and development of world class trainers in country. We need special funding interventions. OGTAN wants a seat on the governing council of relevant government institutions such as PTDF, NCDMB, NBTE, NUC, among others.

  • Firm sues NCDMB, Mobil, others for violating local content law

    An indigenous oil servicing firm in Akwa Ibom State, The Pioneer Divers Int’l Ltd, has sued Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) for alleged breach of local content law.

    Joined in the suit as defendants are ExxonMobil, Boron Oil and Gas Ltd of United States of America and Subtech Company from South Africa.

    The plaintiff, through it lawyer Nwabueze Onukogu, alleged that NCDMB breached the provisions of Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act 2010.

    He further alleged that the NCDMB conspired with some International Oil companies, such as ExxonMobil, to short-change Nigerian companies from benefiting in the contract award which could facilitate transfer of technology that would help indigenous firms to acquire needed skill to take over oil industry operations in Nigeria as envisaged in the local content Act, 2010.

    He claimed that Mobil producing Nigeria awarded a contract titled “Diving, Topside and ROV’s” in their operations field in Akwa Ibom to Broron Oil and Gas Ltd of United States of America in partnership with Subtech in South Africa at $90 million.

    According to him, the services would have been executed by local companies but the first defendant (NCDMB) recommended the third and fourth (Broron oil of United States and Subtech of South Africa) defendants to Mobil for the award which the first defendant (Mobil producing Nigeria) obliged.

    Such recommendation, according to him, violated the content laws of Nigeria which it should protect, safeguard and implement for the benefit of local companies operating in the oil industry to protect them against foreign competitors.

    In the writ of summons, the plaintiff sought for a court declaration that the defendants have breached the provisions of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act 2010 (NOGICD Act) as provided.

    “There shall be exclusive consideration of Nigeria indigenous companies of which the plaintiff is, and demonstrate ownership of equipment, Nigeria personnel and capacity to execute any work to bid on land and contract services including Diving, ROVs and Topside as contained in the Act,” Onukogu argued.

    The plaintiff also prayed the court to award N100,000,000 as damages in relief having established that the defendants have failed in their duty as enshrined in the law.

    Onukogu also sought for an order of court compelling Mobil producing Nigeria to cancel an earlier contract award issued to CNS International, an Italian company providing similar services in their oil field.

    The case was adjourned till May 20 for hearing.

  • NCDMB, stakeholders conclude on local content regulations

    The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has held its final phase of engagements with oil and gas industry stakeholders on the draft of Nigerian Content Ministerial Regulations (NCMR).

    The final forum was held in Lagos had in attendance representatives of the multinational and indigenous operating companies, service companies and select law firms working on the regulations.

    NCDMB Executive Secretary,   Simbi Wabote, an engineer, was represented at the workshop by Director Finance and Personnel Management, Mr. Isaac Yalah, who stated the key objective of the event, which was “the adoption of the updated draft Ministerial Regulations by industry stakeholders for onward transmittal to the Minister for ratification”.

    He said the Board believed strongly in collaborating with key stakeholders in the development of policies, which was why it convened a number of engagements to obtain the reviews and endorsement of industry players on the regulations.

    According to Yalah, Sections 36, 40, 41, 42, 47, 55 and 101 of the Nigerian Content Act empower the Minister of Petroleum Resources to make regulations that will foster the development of Nigerian content. He urged participants at the workshop to make robust inputs, which would be incorporated before the documents are dispatched to the Minister.

    NCDMB Legal Services Co-ordinator, Mrs. Rose Chukwuonwe, noted that previous deliberations on the ministerial regulations had been impactful and successful.

    The ministerial regulations covers Research & Development (R&D); Training, Capacity Development; Growth of Indigenous Capacity; Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Enforcement and Compliance Regulation; Registration of Operators and other professionals with Nigerian professional bodies; Technology transfer and Establishment of operations in Nigeria.

  • NCDMB, stakeholders conclude on local content regulations

    The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has held its final phase of engagements with oil and gas industry stakeholders on the draft of Nigerian Content Ministerial Regulations (NCMR).

    The final forum was held in Lagos had in attendance representatives of the multinational and indigenous operating companies, service companies and select law firms working on the regulations.

    NCDMB Executive Secretary,   Simbi Wabote, an engineer, was represented at the workshop by Director Finance and Personnel Management, Mr. Isaac Yalah, who stated the key objective of the event, which was “the adoption of the updated draft Ministerial Regulations by industry stakeholders for onward transmittal to the Minister for ratification”.

    He said the Board believed strongly in collaborating with key stakeholders in the development of policies, which was why it convened a number of engagements to obtain the reviews and endorsement of industry players on the regulations.

    According to Yalah, Sections 36, 40, 41, 42, 47, 55 and 101 of the Nigerian Content Act empower the Minister of Petroleum Resources to make regulations that will foster the development of Nigerian content. He urged participants at the workshop to make robust inputs, which would be incorporated before the documents are dispatched to the Minister.

    NCDMB Legal Services Co-ordinator, Mrs. Rose Chukwuonwe, noted that previous deliberations on the ministerial regulations had been impactful and successful.

    The ministerial regulations covers Research & Development (R&D); Training, Capacity Development; Growth of Indigenous Capacity; Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Enforcement and Compliance Regulation; Registration of Operators and other professionals with Nigerian professional bodies; Technology transfer and Establishment of operations in Nigeria.

  • NNPC pledges commitment to gas development

    The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Maikanti Baru, has expressed the corporation’s commitment to support any project that would encourage production and utilization of natural gas for the benefit of the nation.

    Disclosing this recently at the signing ceremony of the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG) Train 7, Nigerian Content Plan, in Abuja, Dr. Baru, who was represented at the occasion by Chief Operating Officer (COO), Gas and Power, Engr. Saidu Mohammed, said the signing ceremony was important as one of the major processes to bring the Train 7 project on board.

    The NNPC spokesman, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu disclosed this in a statement Tuesday.

    He noted that the project had a lot of potentials that would benefit the nation, but called on the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) to ensure that Train 8 and any other LNG projects in the future should be designed to accommodate more local content in the fabrication of facilities.

    Commenting on the corporation’s interest in the signing agreement, he said that the Train 7 project was in line with NNPC’s vision of prioritizing the use of natural gas to the greater benefit of Nigerians.

    “Apart from being 49 per cent shareholder in NLNG, we are more interested because it will enhance the development of gas in the country. Bringing the gas to this Train 7 would involve a robust gathering system that will connect trunk lines from offshore to the hinterland, looking beyond NLNG to domestic market, which will open up a flexible system that allows us to swing gas either way, depending on need. This implies that if NLNG is not running, the gas meant for it can be sent to the local market, and when the local market has difficulty in getting the gas consumed, same can be sent back to NLNG.

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    Baru stated that NNPC’s 49 per cent share in the NLNG meant more dividends to the corporation, even as he advised NCDB to make room for more Nigerian Content in subsequent LNG projects

    The GMD called on other partners in the project to obey the rules of engagement.

    “My fellow shareholders please let us continue to provide the necessary support that NLNG as a company requires and always remain compliant with what we are signing today”.

    Earlier in his address, NLNG Managing Director/CEO, Engr. Tony Attah, expressed gratitude to the management of the NNPC for its roles in seeing the project to this critical stage.

    Speaking in the same vein, Engr. Simi Wabote, NCDMB Executive Secretary, said that NNPC’s presence at the signing ceremony was an indication of the corporation’s commitment to ensuring that the Train 7 project gets to Final Investment Destination (FID) this year as projected.