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Tag: NCDMB

  • 10,000 jobs likely as NCDMB, NLNG sign $12b Train 7 Nigerian Content Plan

    An agreement, which is expected to bring about 10,000 jobs by utilising Nigeria’s huge natural gas reserves, has been signed in Abuja.

    The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) and the Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG) signed the Nigerian Content Plan (NCP) for the NLNG Train 7 project.

    NCDMB’s Executive Secretary Simbi Kesiye Wabote and the Managing Director of NLNG, Tony Attah, signed the NCP in Abuja at the weekend.

    The ceremony was witnessed by senior officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Shell, Total and ENI – shareholders of the NLNG.

    The Train 7 project is expected to expand NLNG’s production capacity by 35 per cent from 22 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) to 30 mtpa.

    At peak construction, the Train 7 project is projected to provide direct, indirect and induced employment for over 10, 000 persons.

    Kesiye stressed that Train 7, like other forthcoming major projects in the oil and gas sector, must leave a legacy facility, just like Total’s Egina deepwater, which catalysed the development of an FPSO integration facility in Lagos.

    The expected job explosion from Train 7 is banked on the Nigerian Content Plan, which provides for 100 per cent engineering of all non-cryogenic areas in-country.

    The total in-country engineering man-hour is set at 55 per cent, which exceeds the minimum level stipulated in the NOGICD Act, in line with the Board’s resolve to push beyond the boundary of limitations.

    Wabote said the Train-7 scope will deliver 100 per cent in-country fabrication of the Condensate Stabilisation Unit, pipe-racks, flare system, and non-cryogenic vessels. Site civil works on roads, piling, jetties and will also keep local businesses occupied.

    Read also: Board, NLNG seal $1b local content deal for Train 7

    Wabote said: “It will also provide great opportunities for utilisation of local goods and services in addition to enhancing and developing new capacities and capabilities for the local supply chain.

    “There will be 100 percent local procurement of all LV cables and HV cables, all non-cryogenic valves, protective coatings, and all sacrifice anodes. 70 per cent of all non-cryogenic pumps and control valves will be assembled in-country.”

    Other spin-off opportunities will include logistics, equipment leasing, insurance, hotels, office supplies, aviation and haulage, he added.

    Wabote pointed out that the increased number of NLNG Trains would also provide huge business opportunities for local businesses to build capabilities in the maintenance of LNG plants, especially in cryogenics.

    The project will also catalyse other upstream gas supply projects required to keep the LNG train busy and make stranded gas fields in the shallow and deep offshore in the area economical.

    Attah confirmed that the full value network of the Train 7 project was about $12 billion, including the net cost of the project, estimated in the region of $4 billion to $5 billion and a similar additional spend at its operational base in Bonny, Rivers State.

    “It is also about the upstream development, which is the real gas that will come to us. That also is a huge investment of $5 to $6 billion. So, potentially, the full value network is almost $12 billion,” he said.

    Attah said the Nigerian Content Plan for Train 7 contained clear and robust Local Content provisions that are significantly higher than the previous NLNG projects.

    He said: “NCDMB and NLNG are fully aligned to collaborate during the operationalisation of the plan.  This synergy will ensure that value added opportunities for Nigeria are indeed maximised and the Train 7 project is delivered to meet international standards of quality and safety.”

    He also stated that NLNG shareholders have been primed to take the Final Investment Decision (FID) for the project before the end of Quarter 4 2019.

    The NLNG chief highlighted that the expected increase in the production capacity of LNG “will reinforce the company’s comparative and competitive advantage in the global LNG market while also increasing the country’s revenue and foreign investment profile.

    “This is in addition to moving the nation’s economy from being oil-based to becoming a gas-based economy to be reckoned with globally. We are here to enable gas. Nigeria has ridden on the back of oil for more than 50 years. It is now time to fly on the wings of gas.”

  • NCDMB rejects 1,494 expatriate quota

    As part of its efforts to create employment and growth opportunities for Nigerians in the oil and gas industry, the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) rejected 1,494 expatriate quota applications between 2016 and 2018.

    A document obtained from the Ministry of Petroleum Resources yesterday revealed that the Board approved 2,584 expatriate quota applications. The document indicated that the approval was granted after the requesting companies completed the application process and confirmed to the NCDMB that the requested positions were strictly for highly skilled positions for which Nigerians lacked the required capacities.

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    According to the document, the Board also ensured that expatriate positions would be filled by Nigerians after a specified period during which Nigerians would have been groomed.

    The Board carried out biometric capture of 1,396 expatriates working in the oil and gas industry within the two-year period.

    The NCDMB issued 939 Nigerian Content Equipment Certificate and 116 Nigerian Content Compliance Certificate during the review period.

  • NCDMB rejects 1,494 expatriate quota

    As part of its efforts to create employment and growth opportunities for Nigerians in the oil and gas industry, the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) rejected 1,494 expatriate quota applications between 2016 and 2018.

    A document obtained from the Ministry of Petroleum Resources yesterday revealed that the Board approved 2,584 expatriate quota applications. The document indicated that the approval was granted after the requesting companies completed the application process and confirmed to the NCDMB that the requested positions were strictly for highly skilled positions for which Nigerians lacked the required capacities.

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    to the document, the Board also ensured that expatriate positions would be filled by Nigerians after a specified period during which Nigerians would have been groomed.

    The Board carried out biometric capture of 1,396 expatriates working in the oil and gas industry within the two-year period.

    The NCDMB issued 939 Nigerian Content Equipment Certificate and 116 Nigerian Content Compliance Certificate during the review period.

  • NCDMB backs Benin Industrial Park

    The Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Mr. Simbi Wabote, has thrown his weight behind the Benin Industrial and Enterprise Park (BIEP).

    He said the agency was concluding arrangements on investments from oil and gas firms to be hosted at the Park.

    He made this known when Governor Godwin Obaseki led a delegation to the board’s office in Abuja.

    Wabote said NCDMB would support the initiative aimed at improving the economy and wooing more investors to the oil and gas sector.

    The Benin Industrial and Enterprise Park will be serviced by a dedicated gas pipeline with direct interconnection to natural gas trunk line and a direct gas sales agreement with reliable gas suppliers.

    The park is sponsored by the Obaseki-led administration and Amaya Capital, a principal energy investment firm, with a commitment to ensure that the park kicks off next year as a private-sector led industrial park.

    The BIEP provides efficient and competitive infrastructure to international and local firms, and will be developed in phases on a 900-hectare site located along the Benin-Sapele Road. It has a designated area for oil and gas service firms.

    Wabote said the agency has  budgeted for the Park, particularly for land acquisition.

    He said the board would also be willing to partner the Edo government to catalyse other sectors provided there would be a return on such investments.

    “There is a lot we can do in the gas corridor in Edo. We have to diversify from crude oil in order to change the thinking in the Niger Delta,” Wabote said.

    Obaseki explained that the BIEP would take advantage of “significant gas reserves within the state, being on the route of the core Escravos to Lagos gas trunk line with a capacity of approximately two billion cubic feet of gas per day”.

  • NCDMB throws weight behind Benin Industrial, Enterprise Park

    The Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Mr. Simbi Wabote, has thrown his weight behind the Benin Industrial and Enterprise Park (BIEP), assuring that the agency is concluding arrangements on investments from oil and gas firms to be hosted at the Park.

    This was disclosed when Governor Obaseki led a delegation to the board’s office in Abuja.

    Mr. Wabote said NCDMB will throw its full weight behind the initiative aimed at improving the nation’s economy and wooing more investors to the oil and gas sector of the economy.

    The Benin Industrial and Enterprise Park will be serviced by a dedicated gas pipeline with direct interconnection to natural gas trunk line and a direct gas sales agreement with reliable gas suppliers.

    The park is sponsored by the Governor Godwin Obaseki-led administration in Edo State and Amaya Capital, a principal energy investment firm, with a commitment to ensure that the park kicks off next year as a private-sector led industrial park.

    The BIEP provides efficient and competitive infrastructure to international and local companies, and will be developed in phases on a 900-hectare site located along the Benin-Sapele Road. It has designated area for oil and gas service companies.

    Mr. Wabote said the agency has made budgetary provision for the Park in its 2019 budget, particularly for land acquisition.

    He said the board would also be willing to partner the Edo government to catalyse other sectors of the economy provided there would be a return on such investments.

    “There is a lot we can do in the gas corridor in Edo. We have to diversify from crude oil in order to change the thinking in the Niger Delta,” Mr. Wabote said.

    Governor Obaseki explained that the Benin Industrial and Enterprise Park would take advantage of “significant gas reserves within the state, being on the route of the core Escravos to Lagos gas trunk line with a capacity of approximately two billion cubic feet of gas per day.”

  • NCDMB pushes for strict local content practice

    For the local content policy to be fully achieved, the law guiding its practice must be strictly adhered to, the Director, Planning, Research and Statistics, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Patrick Obah, has said

    Obah, who spoke on behalf of the Executive Secretary of the Board, Simbi Wabote, at an oil and gas forum in Lagos, with the theme “The role of Nigeria’s local content policy and its impact on sustainable economic value creation,” noted that local content as a global agenda is about protecting the country’s natural deposits.

    He insisted that the practical aspect of the local content was still missing. According to him, we must be tie practical  retention with theory, adding that what we have been able to do is to explain to people how things by allowing them to have a feel of it, he stressed

    Our focus when we talk about succession plan is not about the Nigerianisation of companies and positions but what time Nigerian will acquire that skill, he asked. We must know what we have on ground that will give a clear pointer to where we want to go, he said, adding if we do not know, we cannot plan well

    He said: “All these companies you see have different levels of capacities. A lot of people don’t know what Nigerians can do. I have had opportunities to visit some companies and it is awesome the kind of investments that exist in this country. If we do not have statistics of what is on ground and what they can do, that is, the capacities these companies have, the kind of skills they have, we can adequately articulate all of these parameters and forge our country ahead.When we get the statistics right, the capacities right, we would be able to know where to improve.

    He said the Nigerian content law is about the domiciliation/domestication of value-adding activities. He said the key word about the Nigerian content implementation is development and monitoring, hence the need to develop local capacities and capabilities and then monitor compliance and enforcement.

    “There must be standardisation in the way we do things. If we don’t do that we cannot get a clear direction towards development. We should be able to bring in specialisation into all these things,” he stated.

    He noted that the local content as it is practised in other places, such as Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago, Indonesia, United Kingdom and Canada. They all had local content laws after discovering oil.

    “Also, when they had to face the green energy, they didn’t have the full technology but they made pronouncements that the government should favour any company, which during bidding, had high percentage of the country’s content,” he said adding the conditions were listed and are almost the same.

    “The conditions include technology transfer, employment of locals, capital flight reduction, local ownership and control of assets, poverty alleviation drive, increased production and utilisation of locally made goods, and sustainable economic growth.

    “Before now, the emphasis was on how much money we could get from the oil and gas value chain, revenue generation, taxes as well as being able to produce first oil,” he noted.

    However, with the enactment of the NODGIC Act 2010, the emphasis shifted more to in-country manufacturing, skilled manpower, job creation, technology development, revenue retention, research and development, value retention, technology linkages and industrialisation and in-country services.

    Obah said the Board had  provided on its website for whistle blowing. With this, the board wants to know about compliance in terms of Nigerian content. “So, if you see any infraction, please send it to us. We don’t need to know your name, where you stay or where you work, tell us the problem and we spend resources to investigate that and where any company, any individual is found liable, we invoke the provisions of the law,” he added.

  • PENGASSAN, NUPENG to collaborate with NCDMB on local content

    The national executives of the Petroleum and the Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and their counterparts – Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) – have pledged to collaborate with the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) on local content development in the oil and gas industry.

    The unions made the commitment during a visit to the NCDMB headquarters in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital.

    PENGASSAN National Chairman  Comrade Francis Johnson commended the Board’s effort to the growth and development of the oil sector by encouraging indigenous participation.

    He said: “This engagement with the Board is quite revealing. We have learnt a lot about the laudable interventions of NCDMB. There is no better time to work with the Board. We are committed to work with you.”

    Johnson urged the Board  to prevent portfolio firms from grabbing the contracts, which would help to build and deepen the Nigerian content in the sector.

    On the Board’s headquarters construction, the PENGASSAN chief described the project as laudable. He said: “On behalf of PENGASSAN/NUPENG, I want to commend NCDMB for this project and I hope it will be completed soonest as we will be here to be a part of the official commissioning.”

    The Board’s Executive Secretary, Simbi Wabote, denied that the Board awards contracts. He reiterated that the NOGICD Act 2010 mandates the Board to review and approve the Nigerian Content plan and issue compliance certificates to  firms adhering to the Law.

    “Contrary to the widespread belief that NCDMB awards contracts, let me categorically say the Board is mandated to review, assess and approve Nigerian Content plans developed by operators.  We issue certificate of authorisation for projects that comply with Nigerian Content provisions,” Wabote said.

    Wabote highlighted the structure and operations of the Board and how both unions could enhance local content. He explained that the Nigerian Content is not about Nigerianisation but rather domestication and domiciliation of value-adding activities in-country.

    He said the Board’s efforts since the enactment of the Act had yielded tangible benefits, citing establishment and upgrade of fabrication yards, pipe coating plants, upstream production managed by indigenous companies, production of low/high voltage cables and partial integration of Egina floating production, storage and offloading vessel (FPSO), as some of them.

    The NCDMB boss said the major challenges of the Board include infrastructure for the movement of materials, inter-agency collaboration, policy consistency and attraction of investors to set-up manufacturing outfit locally.

    Wabote called for the Unions’ support for the Board. He disclosed  the agency’s readiness to collaborate with the union.

    NUPENG Chairman Comrade Williams Akporeha said their collaboration with the Board would be total. He noted that they were happy with the Board’s achievemnets. He, however, suggested that NCDMB  woud introduce periodic consultative forum with the unions to boost Nigerian content practice.

    Akporeha said the Board has a major role to play to ensure smooth operations in the oil and gas industry and advised that NCDMB examine international practices on remunerations to employees

  • NCDMB calls for listing of oil firms

    Listing of major companies in the Nigerian oil and gas sectors on the stock market would further stimulate the growth of the industry and enhance the inclusion of Nigerians in the national economic wealth creation.

    Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) Executive Secretary,  Simbi Wabote, yesterday called on all stakeholders to work towards ensuring the listing of companies that add value to the country’s hydrocarbon resources, such as refineries, petrochemical industries and fertiliser companies.

    Speaking during the visit of the management of the NCDMB to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Wabote noted that most of the companies listed under the oil and gas sector of the NSE are into marketing of petroleum products.

    He said the listing of upstream and mid-stream oil and gas companies would be a game-changer for the Nigerian oil and gas industry as this will give room for pooling together of funds for growth as well as the empowerment and inclusion of Nigerians in the activities of the mainstay of the economy.

    He commended the NSE for playing vital roles in the national economy by serving as  a means of wealth creation, wealth distribution, and source of long-term financing even as the businesses listed  on the exchange use their products and services to meet the needs of the people.

    “We will like to see more of the upstream and mid-stream companies listed on the Exchange.  More importantly,  we will like to see a major shift in the listing of companies that add value to our hydrocarbon resources in-country such as refineries, petrochemical industries, fertiliser companies, and companies in the liquefied petroleum gas and compressed natural gas  value chain,” Wabote said.

    He said the board recently launched its 10-year strategic roadmap designed to increase the Nigerian content level in the oil and gas sector from the current level of about 30 per cent to 70 per cent  by 2027.

    “This means retention of about $14 billion in the Nigerian economy out of the yearly spend of $20billion. This target represents huge opportunities for investors in the Nigerian economy. We see opportunity to collaborate with the NSE to increase the depth and breadth of listings using our 10-year strategy as a driver. For us in the Board, we have commenced multiple strategic initiatives to bring the roadmap into fruition,” Wabote said.

    According to him, the vision of NCDMB is to be a catalyst for the industrialisation of the  oil and gas industry and its linkage sectors.

    He outlined that in line with its focus as a catalyst for in-country resource utilisation, the board has taken 30 per cent equity in a 5,000bpd modular refinery and is considering other similar proposals for the establishment of modular refineries.

    “We reckon that at least 10 per cent  of Nigerian oil production should be refined using modular refineries. As a regulator, we have put in place our exit plans from these investments. We see opportunity to divest such equity via the Nigerian Stock Exchange so that Nigerians and other investors can be part owners of such enterprises. We are also looking at providing support other opportunities, such as the LPG value chain, industrial fabrication, and manufacturing using our oil and gas park schemes,” Wabote said.

    He pointed out that partnership between operators in major sectors of the economy and the stock market would boost activities at the stock market by increasing the listing of Nigerian companies on the Exchange.

     

  • NCDMB explains SLA, other labour issues to NUPENG

    The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has explained its Service Level Agreement (SLA) with Oil Producers Trade Section (OPTS) and other labour concerns raised by the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG).

    NCDMB Executive Secretary, Simbi Wabote spoke during a meeting by the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream) in Abuja.

    The committee had invited the NCDMB management to respond to concerns raised by the oil workers that the Service Level Agreement (SLA) signed by the Board and the Oil Producers Trade Section (OPTS) on May 9, would limit the duration of contracts of labour service to three months as against five years, which it claimed was previously the norm.

    The union leaders, however, sang a different tune after listening to the clarifications made by Wabote, who explained that the SLA between NCDMB and OPTS was aimed at shortening the protracted contracting cycle in the Nigerian oil and gas industry, which used to take about three years before the award of a major contract would be completed.

    The NUPENG officials pleaded with the NCDMB to examine the nature of employment agreements oil servicing firms foisted on their members. According to them, NUPENG members were often made to accept short-term contracts, with unfavourable conditions of service.

    NUPENG President, Comrade Williams Akporeha and Deputy General Secretary, Comrade Afolabi Olawale, commended the Board for teh effective implementation of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act.

    Akporeha claimed that oil workers championed the Nigerian Content Bill when it was undergoing legislative processes, hence they expected the NCDMB to extend the implementation of the Nigerian Content Act to key labour issues, like the kinds and provisions of employment contracts, which operating and service companies subject employees to.

    He regretted that most operating firms no longer hire middle and lower cadre personnel on full time, instead they use casual workers. Such practices, he insisted, were against labour laws and inimical to the interests of the nation and its youths.

    Providing insight on the SLA, Wabote explained that the Board signed the first of such agreements with the Nigerian LNG Limited in May, last year and was developing the third SLA with the Independent Petroleum Producers Group (IPPG).

    He said the SLA with the NLNG improved the speed of interactions between the two organisations, leading to the timely conclusion of the recent award of a contract by the NLNG to an indigenous company, E. A. Temile Development Company for the provision of a new build Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) ship.

    The executive secretary confirmed that the  SLA was aimed at accelerating the approval of  NCDMB’s activities on the contracting cycle and enhancing the ease of doing business,  a key policy thrust of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

    “It is meant to shorten the time by removing all unwanted bottlenecks and red tapes in order to conclude Nigerian content reviews and approvals by NCDMB before award of contracts by NNPC-NAPIMS,”he said.

    He stressed that the SLA had nothing to do with reducing the tenure or duration of a project or contract; rather it would ensure that jobs are retained and are also created.

    “The protracted industry cycle led the IOCs to start using short term contracts which they review arbitrarily,” he said.

    Wabote promised to intervene in the complaints raised by NUPENG against operating and service companies, within the Board’s mandate. Regretting that most violators of the Nigerian Content Act were indigenous companies, he charged the union to serve as whistle blowers and report Nigerian Content infractions to the Board for sanction.

    He noted that NCDMB had extended the focus of Nigerian Content implementation to the midstream and downstream sectors of the oil and gas industry, after recording appreciable success in the upstream sector.

    On the phasing out of junior personnel by oil producing firms, the executive secretary attributed it to the use of enhanced technology by the industry. “Most junior roles and tasks are executed by technology and that is why companies employ only highly skilled workers.”

    House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream) Chairman, Hon Joseph Iranola Akinlaja, asked the Board and NUPENG to  interface regularly on labour issues. He decried casualisation and charged agencies of government to fight against it.

    A member of the House of Representatives Committee and former NUPENG President, Hon Peter Akpatason, urged firms to employ junior workers and build their capacities.

  • Aiteo, NCDMB, Total get awards

    The Aiteo Group has won declared Indigenous Oil and Gas Company of the Year.

    This was at the  Nigerian Oil and Gas (NOG) Awards held in Abuja.

    The gala and awards night rounded off the Nigeria Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibitions organised by  London-based CWC Group.

    NOG is Nigeria’s yearly oil and gas industry event, which draws key players across the energy sector. It is a viable platform for networking, sharing ideas, and exploring new opportunities and innovations in the industry.

    This year, many industry professionals came from both the public and private sectors.

    Aiteo’s CEO and Executive Vice Chairman, Benedict Peters, attributed the company’s emergence as the indigenous oil and gas company of the year to the depth of its human resource, and sustainable investments in the industry, and the economy.

    “We remain committed to our vision of shaping the future of sustainable energy in Nigeria and beyond, strategically deploying resources and technologies that lead to sustained economic development and value for all stakeholders. This honour from the NOG is fulfilling, particularly coming from our peers and a reputable industry platform. We dedicate this award to the highly committed, talented and industrious people working at Aiteo and making things possible on a daily basis,” Peters added.

    In the Corporate social responsibility (CSR) arena, Aiteo gives back to the local communities in which it operates through grants and donations, seed capital and philanthropy. It has also supported several social investment projects, including special focus on supporting the study of Engineering in host communities and sports, the CEO said.

    In sports, Aiteo has become the  major financier of football after a string of contributions to the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) and the  Super Eagles. To support local football, Aiteo took over the sponsorship of the Federation Cup,  and renamed Aiteo Cup.

    On the continental stage, Aiteo partnered the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to sponsor the African Football Awards in January this year.