The Nation Newspaper

Tag: NCDMB

  • NCDMB benchmarks deepwater projects on Total, LADOL record

    NCDMB benchmarks deepwater projects on Total, LADOL record

    The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, (NCDMB), has directed international oil companies (IOCs) and promoters of new deepwater projects in Nigeria to exceed the benchmark attained by Total Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited.

    Lagos Deep Offshore Logistics Base (LADOL), is fabricating and integrating part of Total Egina field’s floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO)  vessel at its yard in Lagos.

    The Executive Secretary, NCDMB, Simbi Wabote, who spoke in Lagos after inspecting facilities of Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI), the main contractor for the Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Installation (EPCI) of the FPSO scope on the Egina project at LADOL base, said IOCs and promoters of new deepwater projects in Nigeria should deliver Nigerian Content milestones that would exceed in-country integration of FPSO platforms. This is because Total Nigeria’s Egina deepwater project, which will be integrated at the LADOL Free Trade Zone, has become the benchmark for Nigerian Content on deepwater projects, hence forthcoming projects have to break new records, he added.

    He said in-country integration of the FPSO and fabrication of six modules of the vessel created, 5000 direct jobs and 5000 indirect jobs. Increased domiciliation of future FPSO projects through the fabrication of more modules would create additional jobs, estimated to reach 30,000, he added.

    According to Wabote, the Board would not rest on its oars with regard to the implementation of the Nigerian Content Act, adding that “new projects must look at doing FPSO integration and more; we must add something to our achievements.”

    Six modules of the Egina FPSO were fabricated in-country across some yards, whereas 12 modules were welded at Samsung’s base, Geoje, South Korea. He stated that “for next FPSO, more modules must be fabricated locally.”

    Wabote expressed satisfaction with level of investment and the utilisation of local workforce at the LADOL base, describing the project as an example of possibilities, and assured that the Board will continue to work with industry stakeholders to develop new projects and domicile more work in-country.

    The Chief Operating Officer, SHI Nigeria, Mr. Frank Ejizu, explained that the Quay side was ready to receive the FPSO, noting that the tracks have been certified. On the workforce, Ejizu stated that 364 Nigerian welders have been qualified and awarded international certifications with which they can work anywhere in the world.

    The NCDMB chief also visited the facilities of Dover Engineering, JC International and Thompson and Grace Limited, all located at Port Harcourt, Rivers State. He explained that his visits to oil and gas facilities across the country were aimed at assessing capacities and confirming that Nigerian companies have firm footing in their  areas of operation.

    According to Wabote, information and observations gathered from the visits will be used during tenders and in planning for capacity development. He also promised to enlighten IOCs and project promoters on existing in-country capacities and ensure their utilisation during projects.

    At Dover Engineering, Wabote noted that experts in offshore designs, FSPO designs and detailed engineering were in high demand and engineering companies must develop strategies to retain them so their competences will not be lost. He praised the company for forming a consortium with other engineering firms to deliver major projects, charging other service companies to emulate the model.

  • NCDMB, IOCs pledge to fast-track projects execution

    NCDMB, IOCs pledge to fast-track projects execution

    The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) and international oil companies (IOCs) operating in the country have made commitment to fast-track execution of oil and gas projects. This will lead to an increase  crude production and create opportunities for the growth and development of Nigerian Content.

    The IOCs gave the assurance when the Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Simbi Kesiye Wabote visited some IOCs in Lagos to seek collaboration and get their commitment to support upcoming projects.

    Wabote visited Chevron, Total Upstream and Shell with top management of the Board and confirmed that NCDMB had adopted mechanisms that accelerate processing time for Nigerian Content plans, technical and commercial evaluation and issuance of Nigerian Content certificates.

    He urged other entities involved in the contracting cycle to adopt similar strategies for the sector to achieve the six-month contract processing target set by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu. He also expressed the Board’s readiness to partner various stakeholders in resolving challenges they have in executing their projects.

    According to him, the visits were conceived to engage stakeholders, and explain strategies adopted by the NCDMB to foster projects and ensure domiciliation of work scopes and maximisation of in-country capacities.

    One of those strategies is the categorisation of service companies by their capacities, which he said, will be used in the contracting process.

    He stressed that all new projects must comply with the provisions of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act 2010 and urged the operating companies to ensure that their contractors and sub-contractors remit one per cent of their contract value to the Nigerian Content Development Fund (NCDF) as required by law.

    The NCDMB chief praised the establishment of pipe coating facilities and steel pipe mills in-country and directed operators to patronise the facilities. He said the Board would sanction operators that award contracts without approved Nigerian Content Compliance Certificates (NCCC).

  • NCDMB, IOCs pledge to fast-track projects implementation

    The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) and some international oil companies (IOCs) have promised to fast-track oil and gas projects implementation to increase Nigeria’s crude oil production and create opportunities for the growth and development of Nigerian Content.

    The IOCs gave the assurance when the Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Simbi Kesiye Wabote, visited them in Lagos to seek collaboration and make firm commitment to support upcoming projects.

    The Executive Secretary visited Chevron, Total Upstream and Shell with top management of the Board.  He said NCDMB had adopted mechanisms that accelerate processing time for Nigerian Content plans, technical and commercial evaluation and issuance of Nigerian Content certificates.

    Wabote charged other entities involved in the contracting cycle to adopt similar strategies so the sector can achieve the six months contract processing target set by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Emmanuel Kachikwu.

    He expressed the Board’s readiness to partner  various stakeholders in resolving challenges they have in executing their projects.

    According to him, the visits to operating and service companies around the country were conceived to engage stakeholders, and explain strategies adopted by the NCDMB to foster projects and ensure domiciliation of work scopes and maximisation of in-country capacities.

    One of those strategies is the categorisation of service firms by their capacities, which he said, would be used in the contracting process. He stressed that all new projects must comply with the provisions of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act 2010 and urged the operating companies to ensure that their contractors and sub-contractors remit one per cent of their contract value to the Nigerian Content Development Fund (NCDF) as required by law.

    The NCDMB chief praised the establishment of pipe coating facilities and steel pipe mills in-country and directed operators to patronise the facilities. He said the Board would sanction operators that award contracts without approved Nigerian Content Compliance Certificates (NCCC).

    He informed the companies that the Board was developing a five-year road map for Nigerian Content development.The final document would be shared with stakeholders for their inputs and identification of the roles they will play in the actualisation of the initiative.

    At Chevron, Wabote canvassed the participation of operating companies in the Nigerian Content Opportunities Fair planned for March 29 and 30 at Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, noting that the goal is to showcase opportunities in upstream, midstream and downstream sectors and provide multinationals the opportunity to link up and utilise in-country capabilities.

    “Most of Nigerian companies do not know when projects will come through so they do not prepare themselves adequately. The fair will provide a platform where we can share information that is not confidential.

    At Shell, the Vice-President, Nigeria and Gabon, Mr. Peter Costello, who led the Shell team, discussed the company’s projects, including the Bonga Southwest/Aparo (BSWA).

  • Our plans for local content devt, by NCDMB chief

    Our plans for local content devt, by NCDMB chief

    Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) Executive Secretary Simbi Wabote, an engineer, who has just marked 100 days in office, unveils the Board’s plan to maximise  local content development. EMEKA UGWUANYI reports.

    Simbi Wabote was appointed  the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) on September 26, 2016 by President Muhammadu Buhari, after spending 26 years in the Shell Group of companies in Nigeria and abroad. He held various positions in engineering services, contracting & procurement, local content management, external and community affairs.

    He said he was committed to running an open and transparent organisation, and to be upfront with information on the activities, programmes and challenges of the NCDMB.

    “I am determined to remove opaqueness, rumours and insinuations often associated with oil and gas establishments,” he said.

    He noted that with the crash in crude oil prices since 2014, there have been very few activities as operators and the government were finding it difficult to fund new projects while existing contracts were being renegotiated downwards. “But without ongoing and new projects, there hardly can be Nigerian Content. These challenges notwithstanding, I took on this job with the conviction that the low-price regime presents the Board and the entire industry with a wonderful opportunity to find ways of doing things differently and better,” he said.

     

    Achievements and future plans

    Baseline study – the Board with the support of its consultants, he said, has started conducting a baseline study on Nigerian Content implementation, to review how well its act have been implemented in the past six years. “It is to review where we made progress and where we need to up the game. Also we have developed a Community Content guideline, which provides pragmatic steps for incorporating and engaging community contractors as a critical delivery point for Nigerian content development,” he said.

    “This guideline,” he continued: “was borne out of the necessity to boost peace and security in the Niger-Delta and address the lingering squabbles between host communities and service companies over participation in oil and gas activities.”

    Sections 25, 26, 27 and 28 (1) & (2) of the Nigerian Content Act provides for the operator to maintain a level of presence in communities where projects are located. The sections also mandate participation of community entrepreneurs in activities of operations throughout projects life cycle.

    President Muhammadu Buhari launched the Petroleum Industry Roadmap on October 27, 2016 to revitalise the oil and gas industry. “A key component of the Roadmap is to “deploy 30 per cent of business opportunities from operating companies to communities. The Board’s Community Content Guideline sets out strategies to realise this target. Our Capacity Development Initiatives are in aligment with Roadmap,” he stated.

     

    Contracting Cycle

    He said: “On resumption, I took on the lingering issue of protracted contracting cycle in the industry. With support from my team we have put in place internal performance measures to fast-track the contract processing time from NCDMB’s end. We have committed to specific timelines for review of Nigerian Content plans, technical & commercial evaluation and issuance of Nigerian Content certificates. It is my believe that other agencies involved in the contracting cycle are working on their internal processes so that we can collectively work together to reduce the protracted contracting cycle, which has been identified as the main cause of the high cost per barrel of Nigerian crude in comparison to other OPEC countries.”

    Others measures according to him, include fast-tracking implementation of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Parks Scheme (NOGAPS), Polaku Pipemill and accelerated disbursement of the Nigerian Content Development Fund (NCDF), which is nearly $700 million to deserving oil and gas service companies as well as the reconstitution of the joint committee with the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) on local content development in shipbuilding.

    “The Board also has concluded HR process review and institute performance driven work, set clear targets such as develop 5-year strategic road map,  developing Oil and Gas Parks in Ogbia, Bayelsa State; Oguta in Imo State; Okoyong in Cross Rivers State and Ikwe-Odio in Akwa Ibom. Each of these five parks is expected to create about 2,000 direct and indirect jobs and link community entrepreneurs to the oil and gas supply chain. The Board will also hold Nigerian Content Opportunities Fair, Research & Development Fair, and expand compliance oversight to midstream and downstream,” he said.

  • NCDMB votes $100m for contractor finance, others

    NCDMB votes $100m for contractor finance, others

    The Nigerian Content Development Monitoring Board (NCDMB) is to set aside $100 million for Project Finance, Asset Acquisition & Contractor Finance under its Nigerian Content Intervention Fund (NCIF).

    NCDMB’s General Manager, Finance and Accounts,  Obinna Ofili, who stated this, however, did not give details of how the Contractor Finance fund would be accessed because the dis- ccussions, as he put it,  was still ongoing.

    The Contractor Finance Fund is coming less than a year after the Board sealed a similar deal with the Bank of Industry (BoI). The Board in July last year, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with BoI to establish the Nigerian Content Intervention Fund. The BoI/NCDMB initiative also carries a $100milion value, but it is specifically meant for the manufacturing of components in the oil and gas industry. The interventions are drawn from the Nigerian Content Development Fund (NCDF), which value is put at about $600million.

    On the initial $100million for manufacturing in the oil and gas, the understanding is that BoI would be responsible for its deployment to qualified contractors. NCIF provides long term facilities to contributors to NCDF at eight per cent interest rate.

    “As soon as we finalise the process for the release of the initial $100 million (about N31 billion) to BoI for the pilot phase, contributors to the Fund with manufacturing proposals in the oil and gas industry, can approach BoI for the NCIF facility, which has a single obligor limit of $10 million and tenor of up to five-10 years,” the Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Simbi Wabote, said.

    Ofili, who spoke on the need for upstream contractors to pay their contributions into the Fund, told The Nation areas the Board is focused on, saying the fund utilisation on developmental initiatives will be deployed on areas such as manufacturing of pipe mill, Nigeria Oil and the Gas Park scheme (NOGaPs), which is ongoing at five different locations, including one at Polaku, Bayelsa State.

    On human capital development, Ofili said the Board’s focus is in direct training in areas such as geosciences training,Artisan and machinist training, oil spill management & environmental remediation training.

    It also encourages sensitisation programmes on supplier development, and as well support the Nigerian Content Consultative Forum (NCCF) and Nigerian Content Investment Forum (NCIF).

    Ofili also noted that LADOL Integration Yard Development benefitted from the intervention through the 30 per cent partial guarantee and 50 per cent interest rebate, while Stars Investment, involved in vessel construction benefitted through 25 per cent equity guarantee, and Vandrezzer, which is into contract financing got 30 per cent NCDF partial guarantee and 50 per cent interest rebate

    He said contractors’ currency of remittance of NCDF deduction must be the currency of the contract, adding that conversion of currency will be allowed only if the transaction (s) currency is outside of any of the four major currencies such as United States Dollar, Great Briatin Pound, Euro and Nigerian Naira) with the Board approval. Conversion will be made to US Dollars.

  • NCDMB warns operators to remit contributions to Fund

    NCDMB warns operators to remit contributions to Fund

    •$100m NCIF ready for use soon

    The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has warned  contractors in the upstream segment of the petroleum industry to remit their contributions to the Nigerian Content Intervention Fund (NCIF).

    Its Executive Secretary, Simbi Wabote, at a stakeholders meeting on NCIF remittances in Lagos, reminded stakeholders that the Nigerian Content Act provides that one per cent of every contract in the upstream sector of the oil and gas industry should be deducted at source and paid into the Fund.

    Many upstream companies, perhaps out of ignorance of the process of remittance, have not been remitting their contributions, hence, the stakeholders meeting. The forum was to recreate awareness on the need and how to remit contributions to the Fund.

    Wabote noted that the Act also gives the Board the mandate to manage the Fund and deploy it for projects, programmes and activities directed at increasing content in the oil and gas industry.

    He said: “NCDMB focused the early years of the Act in collections, putting in place an operating model for the utilisation of the Fund, establishing the Nigerian Content Development Fund (NCDF) Advisory Committee for efficient governance of the Fund; and creating confidence and trust of Industry stakeholders.

    “The Board opened up the Fund for utilisation from 2013, based on the approved operating model that segmented 70 per cent of the Fund to financing commercial interventions and 30 per cent for developmental initiatives and activities carried out by the Board on behalf of the industry.

    “Therefore, this forum is convened to engage stakeholders on the channels for remittance of Funds into NCDF account with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). As most of you are aware, the NCDF was established by Section 104 of the Nigerian Oil & Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act of 2010. The Act provides that one per cent of every contract in the upstream sector of the Nigeria oil & gas industry shall be deducted at source and paid into the Fund.

    “Under commercial interventions, the Fund was leveraged to provide 30 per cent partial guarantee to commercial banks for loans granted to oil and gas service companies towards financing project execution, asset acquisition or facility upgrade. It also provided 50 per cent interest rebate on performing loans. Beneficiaries of the Fund include Ladol, Starz and Vandrezzer.”

    According to the NCDMB chief, developmental intervention covered Capacity Development Initiatives (CDIs) including training programmes, NCCF administration, establishment of NOGICJQS, establishment of oil and gas parks, direct equity participation by the Board in high impact projects as well as compliance monitoring activities carried out by the Board on behalf of the industry.

    He stated that the introduction of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) policy by the Federal Government and the need to deepen accessibility of the Fund for critical activities informed the need to re-engineer the Operating Model of NCDF.

    The Board has fully complied with TSA policy by opening Naira and foreign currency accounts in CBN, into which all NCDF remittances are to be made, stressing that NCDMB does not operate account in any commercial bank, contributors are therefore expected to pay all remittances into the NCDF accounts in CBN, he added.

    To enhance accessibility to the Fund, the Board in July 2016 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Bank of Industry (BoI) to establish the Nigerian Content Intervention Fund (NCIF). NCIF provides long term facilities to contributors to NCDF on the basis of all, in eight per cent interest rate.

    “As soon as we finalise the process for release of the initial $100 Million (N31 Billion) to BoI for the pilot phase, contributors to the Fund with manufacturing proposals in the oil and gas industry can approach BoI for the NCIF facility, which has a single obligor limit of$10 million and tenor of up to 5-10 years,” he said.

  • NCDMB: we ‘ll support Nigeria Machine tools

    NCDMB: we ‘ll support Nigeria Machine tools

    The Executive Secretary,  Nigeria Content Development and Management Board (NCDMB), Mr Simbi Waobote, has plegded to support  Nigeria Machine Tools Limited (NMTL), Oshogbo, Osun State.

    Speaking yesterday when he and members of his delegation, paid a familiarisation tour of the company’s 110 hectare manufacturing complex, he praised Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNPECo) for identifying and partnering with NTML.

    He said:  “I am particularly impressed with the facilities I’ve see here today. I commend SNEPCo for identifying and partnering with an indigenous company to manufacture tools useful to the industry. I assure you we will latch on what SNEPCo has done especially on your potentials to manufacture bolts, flanges and other accessories to call on other International Oil Companies (IOCs) and indigenous oil companies to patronize you.”

    Wabote assured the company of patronage on its  ongoing projects and lauded the standard of the company’s training facilities.

    NMTL has a flourishing fully equipped training school, open to the public as well as for industries that require training for their technical manpower in a wide range of technical skill sets.

    Waobote said: “There is no other place to train machinists in this country like what I have seen here. I urge you to upgrade the trainings to certification standards because this constitutes 80 per cent of your market. If you can do this the patronage from NCDMB will be limitless. NCDMB will throw its weight behind you.”

    The chairman of NTML, Mr. Didi Ndiomu  reiterated the company’s commitment to continually manufacture tools that can compete both locally and internationally, assuring the NCDMB chief that his recommendations would be applied and results delivered.

    In his welcome address,  the Managing Director of NTML, Mr. Nobert Chukwuma, said the company would continue to play its role to ensure that Nigeria meets its industrialisation goals despite the challenges that abound. He said the company’s capacity utilisation still stands at 45 per cent identifying other challenges such as anti-competitive pricing and dependency on imported tools.

    NMTL’s facility consists of four assembly and heavy machine shops, three  light machine shops, and a foundry with independent pattern and casting shops and a dedicated training school and the second largest foundry in the country.

  • NCDMB, Total, others praise EWT for completion of Egina OLT piles

    Energy Works Technology (EWT), a subsidiary of Obijackson Group, has been praised for the completion of the fabrication of nine Oil Loading Terminal (OLT) buoy anchor mooring piles, for the Egina F1ield development.

    Speaking during the load-out of the piles at Nestoil Industrial Area, Abuloma in Port Harcourt, the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Simbi Wabote, hailed the performance of Nigerian service firms on the scope of the Egina deepwater project, noting that they demonstrated their engineering prowess and compliance with the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act.

    He said Egina was the first major project executed under the Nigerian Content Act and the Board’s strategy ensured the utilisation of the in-country capacity, upgrade of facilities to meet the targets specified in the Nigerian Content Act and Capacity Development Initiatives (CDIs) where local capacities did not exist.

    Wabote assured that the CDIs would bring down the cost of  projects, stressing that the Nigerian Agip Oil Company’s “Zabazaba and Etan Deepwater Project must not only utilise capacities and facilities developed on past projects but also exceed the Nigerian Content performance achieved on Egina.”

    He praised Total Upstream and Saipem Contracting for their Nigerian Content credentials on the Egina Project and for supporting EWT to deliver on the OLT project, advising other international operating companies and Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Installation (EPCI) contractors to emulate the feat.

    Wabote praised the Obijackson Group, recalling that the company started to build capacity over 20 years ago. “They took serious investment risks and we now have a manifestation of that focus, tenacity and belief in the development of the Niger Delta.They believed that this is where the activities are and put this massive structure here, employing about 2,500 persons, even more than most multinationals you know about in Nigeria,” he said.

    Obijackson Group Managing Director, Dr. Ernest Azudialu-Obiejesi said the Local Content Act was a success because Nigerian companies, technicians and engineers have acquired expertise and built capacity that have increased indigenous participation in the sector.

    He said: “With the Local Content Act, we have made significant progress as a nation and assumed a position of dignity amongst International Oil Companies (IOCs) and other players in the sector who are the beneficiaries of our first-rate services. EWT took advantage of the opportunity created by the Local Content Act to nurture our skills to the point we are.”

    EWT Group Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Gabriel Oramasionwu also said the company spent 400,000 man-hours on the project with zero loss time injury. “This is actually local content in action because every single thing that was done here was done in Nigeria by Nigerian experts with diverse experience. More than 98 per cent of the resources used here are all local content,” he said.

    He said the project required investments and infrastructural enhancements at the company’s facilities like the dredging of the Abrutu River channel to the Bonny River, producing a uniform draft of 5 meters to enable a smooth sail-away of the fabricated structures as well as the strengthening the jetty to bear 3000 Tons of load.

    The General Manager, Egina Project Control, Partners and Authorities, Mr. Felix Akan, said the Egina field, when completed, would add 200,000 barrels of crude oil per day to the national production by 2018.

    He said the project had the highest level of Nigerian Content compared to other oil and gas projects. He noted that the project’s management team and  the main contractors’offices are in the country.

    “About 94 per cent of the project’s Basic Engineering was performed in Nigeria by Nigerian companies. Detailed engineering represented about 85 percent of engineering man-hours spent in Nigeria. The project’s in-country fabrication activities represent about 60,000 tons of equipment,” he added.

    Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN) Chairman Mr. Bank-Anthony Okoroafor described the feat by EWT as a confirmation that indigenous companies could handle complex projects.

  • NCDMB, Agip to partner on project

    NCDMB, Agip to partner on project

    The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) and Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) have agreed to work together to ensure the speedy completion of the Zabazaba and Etan deep water project.

    At a meeting on the project at the agency’s headquarters in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, NCDMB Executive Secretary Simbi Wabote said the project would utilise capacities and facilities developed on past projects. He charged the promoters to exceed the Nigerian Content performance achieved on the Egina deep water project, including the partial integration and fabrication of the Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) platform.

    NAOC Managing Director Mr. Massimo Insulla pledged the company’s commitment to developing the project to create jobs.

    He underscored the support of NCDMB since the conception of the project, noting that a speedy development would benefit all.

    According to him, the promoters of the deep water project are keen on taking the Final Investment Decision (FID) and determined to make it profitable, despite the sustained low price of crude oil.

    Insulla confirmed that the project would generate about $8 billion for the Federal Government, adding that the company has been engaging local and international contractors in the past four months.

    The General Manager, Nigerian Content, NAOC, Mr. Barry Nwibani, said the company organised six workshops in August and September for local and international contractors enlightening them on the Nigerian Content opportunities on various packages of the project.

    He said the workshops afforded contractors the opportunity to showcase their capacities and form alliances to enable them to deliver on the project in compliance with the Nigerian Content Act.

    Nwibani noted that the feedback from the workshops confirmed that there were scopes of the project where local capacity exceeded the percentages prescribed in the Nigerian Content Act, while there were also scopes where local capacity was short of the targets set in the Act.

    He said the areas of significant capacity limitations would require the Board’s review to enable it to decide the capacity development initiatives to be developed in place of waivers.

    NCDMB General Manager, Projects and Operations Division,  Paul Zuhumben, urged NAOC to ensure that the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contractors sign Memoranda of Agreements (MOA) with local contractors to firm up the execution of the job.

    NAOC is developing the Zabazaba and Etan deep water integrated project in Oil Prospecting Licence (OPL) 245 with Shell Nigeria Exploration Company (SNEPCO).

  • NCDMB, firm partner on job creation

    The Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Mr. Simbi Kesiye Wabote, has pledged to create jobs and upscale the capacity of Nigerians in the nation’s oil and gas industry.

    Speaking during a courtesy visit to Dorman Long Engineering, at the weekend, Wabote said it would be achieved through partnership with the company.

    He added that NCDMB would use the implementation of Nigerian content to support President Muhammed Buhari’s administration to create jobs and upscale the capacity and skills of Nigerians in the oil and gas Industry.

    He lauded Dorman Long Engineering’s commitment towards building and sustaining the growth of Nigerian content, especially ongoing work on the Egina project.

    He, however, noted that the urgent task before the board would be to review its activities and implementation process and evolve new strategies.

    Chairman of Dorman Long Engineering, Dr Timi Austen-Peters, thanked the Chairman for his words of encouragement and assured the team of Dorman Long’s commitment to Nigeria.

    He added that the company was ready to key into the Federal Government’s job creation plan through the development of local content.

    “There’s no doubt that we are partners in progress and we would like to reassure you that we have extensive plans that would be strongly beneficial to Nigeria’s socio-economic climate.

    “Our expansion plan will see significant job creation, skills and technology transfer, as well as capacity building,” he said