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Tag: NCDMB

  • NCDMB, NUC to link oil industry with universities

    The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) and the Nigerian Universities Commission (NUC) are partnering to link the oil and gas industry with the university curricula so that both sectors can improve their operations for the benefit of the economy.

    The management of the two agencies agreed to this initiative tagged: Adopt A Faculty (AAFac) programme at a meeting in Abuja and set up a joint committee to develop a detailed action plan within four weeks.

    The Executive Secretary,NCDMB, Mr. Denzil Kentebe, described the AAFac Programme as a capacity development initiative of the Board intended to use academic institutions as a catalyst for local content development.

    He said the programme is aimed at facilitating partnerships between the academia and the oil and gas industry to align the university curriculum to industry technology and skill requirements to enable them train their students in courses and programmes relevant to the needs of the industry.

    He listed other goals of the programme to include developing a culture for applied research, stimulating commercialisation of research findings from academic institutions, encouraging beneficiaries of oil and gas resources to invest in manpower and innovation and maintaining healthy pipeline of oil and gas talents.

    Kentebe confirmed that the Board would use its regulatory powers and mandate to ensure that oil and gas operating and service companies comply with the AAFac programme.

    The Executive Secretary of the NUC, Prof Julius Okojie, praised the Board for initiating the programme and engaging the commission first rather than going to various institutions.

    He said Nigeria has 142 universities with 610 academic programme, assuring the commitment of NUC to partner with NCDMB in the implementation of the AAFac.

    The NUC boss decried the rejection of various students by operators in the industry due to perceived lack of relevant skills and expressed hope that the initiative will address the trend.

    Okojie, who was represented by the Deputy Executive Secretary 1, Prof. Chiedu Mafiana, said the first step in the AAFac programme, would be to review the curriculum, identify the gaps both in theory and practical and restructuring the curriculum to meet the needs of the oil and gas industry.

    The deal identified the inclusion of effective monitoring and evaluation mechanisms into the action plan as imperative to ensure the success of the programme.

    They regretted that most operators of the oil and gas industry had carried out intensive research and development in their home countries over the years and expressed hope that the AAFac programme will reverse the trend in favour of universities.

  • NCDMB sponsors 22 to China for pipe mill training

    The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has concluded arrangement to sponsor 22 young Nigerians to the Peoples Republic of China to acquire skills in the operation and maintenance of machines that will be used at the pipe mill being set up at Polaku, Bayelsa State by Mainland Pipe Mill Nigeria.

    The trainees, who will travel before the end of the month, will be heading for the Baoji Petroleum Steel Pipe Company Limited (BSG), Baoji in Shaanxi Province, China where they will undergo their 45-day training.

    The training is being facilitated by Mainland Pipe Mill, which has BSG of China as its technical partner.

    Speaking in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital at the induction for the trainees ahead of their trip, the Executive Secretary, NCDMB, Mr. Denzil Kentebe, urged them to take the programme seriously and acquire the necessary training and certifications that will enable them successfully operate the Polaku pipe mill when it becomes operational.

    He said the trainees had been offered an opportunity, which millions of Nigerians were desirous of and charged them to comport themselves as worthy ambassadors and return home as successes.

    Kentebe cautioned the trainees against breaking the laws of their host country, especially on the possession and use of illicit drugs as such offence attracts stiff punishment by the Chinese authorities. Besides, offenders will be disappointment to their families and the nation that have reposed confidence in them.

    The General Manager, Capacity Building Division, NCDMB, Ikpomosa Oviasu, restated that the programme was part of the Board’s efforts to imbue Nigerians with critical skills required in the oil and gas industry.

    According to him, the trainees would be assessed during and after the programme and the best performers would be placed in existing pipe mills in Nigeria for further on-the-job training ahead of the start of the Polaku pipe mill.

    Oviasu also confirmed that the Board and BSG had made arrangements for the trainees’ accommodation.

  • Nigerian Content good for IOCs, others, says NCDMB

    The Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Mr. Denzil Kentebe, has said the successful implementation of Nigerian Content is good to all stakeholders in the oil and gas industry, including the international oil companies (IOCs).

    He spoke when the General Managers of Nigerian Content departments of IOCs paid him a courtesy visit at his office in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State capital.

    He said the Nigerian Content Act was well implemented, adding that the Board and the operators see themselves as parttners in progress. The Board decided from its inception in 2010 to collaborate with the IOCs, other operators and stakeholders in the service industry, he said, adding that the model had proven very effective in stimulating compliance with the provisions of the Act.

    According to NCDMB’s Media Relations Supervisor, Public Affairs Division, Obinna Ezeobi, the Content Board chief said the developmental role of the Board was critical and it involved collaboration with stakeholders to develop in-country’s capabilities, which make it possible to execute most industry projects hitherto taken abroad before the advent of the Act.

    He praised the operating companies’ partnership with the Board over the years, and their support to the development of local capacity through various initiatives.

    Kentebe charged the companies not to rest on their oars, considering that he is new on the job and needs their contributions.

    He assured the General Managers that the Board would work with them to find solutions to the problems their various companies might have with the Nigerian Content.

    The General Manager, Nigerian Content, Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC), Mrs. Callista Azogu underscored the IOCs’ commitment to the Nigerian Content development, which she said began before the enactment of the Act in April 2010.

    Azogu, also chairperson of the group, admitted that the operators had challenges complying with some provisions of the Nigerian Content Act, noting that such problems were resolved with the Board to the benefit of all stakeholders.

    The General Manager, Nigerian Content Department, Chevron Nigeria Limited, Mr. Raymond Wilcox, said their group and the Board had the same objectives, which include drive to increase the participation of Nigerians and utilisation of indigenous assets and facilities in the oil and gas industry, retain a greater part of the industry spend in-country and transform the economy.

    He said the Nigerian Content had taken root in the operating companies and members of their group were the vanguards of that philosophy in their organisations.

  • Indigenous upstream operators urge NCDMB on monitoring

    Indigenous service providers in the upstream sector of the oil and gas industry  have urged the Federal Government to reinforce the Nigerian local content programme to enable  it meet its value creation agenda, and not just being a mere gate keeper.

    The President of the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN), Emeka Ene, who stated this in a chat with The Nation, said   the purpose of creating the Local Content and Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), is to ensure that value from the industry is retained in-country, as well as capacity building for the locals,  but regretted that some players have turned the programme into toll gates, where no value and capacity are created.

    He said  the Content Board has done well in the development of local content, but said that it has not so performed in monitoring and enabling access to long-term loans by players.

    Ene said although the Nigerian Content Fund now over $500 million, so it needs to improve in these areas so that the programme will achieve its objective.

    He said: “The NCDMB has created an enabling environment for Nigerian companies to grow capacity.  When the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board was formed, the policy makers did the right thing by not emphasising the monitoring part, but the development part.

    “Although the people in the industry were a bit concerned about the potential negative impact of the local content on the growth of business, the NCDMB went to a large extent to assure companies and emphasise the development of Nigerian capacity. That has expanded the scope of many indigenous companies.”

    Ene said there has been a fair amount of abuse because one of the dangers of local content is the potential creation of toll gates, where no value is added, adding that PETAN as an organisation frowns at such.

    “We think that local content should be value-added. It should be competitive. People should make investments and not to sit back and collect tolls. That does not help to grow the industry. That is not local content,” he stated.

    “Nigerians have borrowed money and made investments. We expect that the NCDMB should support such companies so that they recoup their money. What happens is that when they invest in equipment and capacity, people learn real things that they can apply. Nigerians are working across the globe now based on the skills they learnt from Nigerian service companies.”

    Ene said the content board focusses much on monitoring, an aspect he stressed, is ”very important. It allows us to sieve the chaff from the real thing. It also helps to strengthen the institutional and regulatory role of the NCDMB.

    “One area we think more should be done is in the area of capacity building through fund access for local companies. That was the purpose of the Nigerian Content Fund. Nigerian Content Fund was supposed to strengthen Nigerian companies. Not necessarily contract financing, but to strengthen capacity growth,” he stated.

    “If a company invests $100 million buying an ocean going vessel, and all he has to finance it is a two plus one year contract, whereas it takes 10 years to recover the cost of that investment, if you take away that contract, what happens to him? How does he make up?

    How do you then encourage local content, he querried?

    He said for the content board to develop local content, “we must put money where our mouth is. We must support Nigerian companies with real capital, access to long-term low cost capital, so as to deepen and grow their capacity in the real, not in the figurative and inconsequential way.”

  • Jonathan appoints new PEF chief

    Jonathan appoints new PEF chief

    President Goodluck Jonathan has approved the appointment of Mrs. Asabe Asmau Ahmed as Executive Secretary of the Petroleum Equalisation Fund (PEF).

    Ahmed, who is currently the Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development, takes over from Mrs. Sharon Adefunke Kasali who has been Executive Secretary of PEF since 2007.

    According to a statement issued by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President, Dr. Reuben Abati, the new PEF Executive Secretary hails from Niger State and holds Bachelors and Masters Degrees from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna, respectively.

    “She is expected to put her years of experience in public service to good use in re-engineering, repositioning and re-invigorating PEF for present and future challenges,” the statement reads.

    President Jonathan also approved the appointment of Mr. Denzil Amagbe Kentebe as Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Management Development Board (NCDMB).

    “Mr. Kentebe, an architect with years of experience in strategic planning and policy management, takes over from Engr. Ernest Nwakpa who has been Executive Secretary of the NCDMB since April 2010,” The statement added.

     

     

  • Board promises conducive environment for manufacturers

    The Federal Government  will  provide a conducive environment for Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) to facilitate their jobs, the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development Monitoring Board (NCDMB) Ernest Nwapa has said.

    The OEMs are to provide technologies for the refineries, and other vital areas in the oil and gas sector.

    In an interview with reporters, he said the provision of the infrastructure would enable the manufacturers perform well by providing the industry with the required equipment.

    “So, rather than bringing these OMEs to come here and ask them to  start sourcing for land and developing them, we have taken the responsibility to stimulate that by doing some of the basic things.’’ he said.

    He added: “We believe that when we do the infrastructure, when we keep them in a cluster; when we invite them in and use the leverage that we have as a statutory agency of the government to push the operators into the oil and gas parks, the OEMs will then come along with their support system  into this place. We will also inject some Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs).’’

    Nwapa said the government would provide basic infrastructure, such as roads and power to make the environment conducive for the OEMs.

    “We will develop the land in phases. We will create basic infrastructure, such as roads, power, water,  telecoms and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) facilities,” he said.

  • Delta Gas Park of controversy

    Delta Gas Park of controversy

     

    The  Ijaw and the Itsekiri are quarelling over the Ogidigben Oil and Gas Park. They are accusing each other of playing politics with the $16billion project,  writes AKINOLA AJIBADE

    The row between the Itsekiri and Ijaw in Delta  State over  the $16billion Ogidigben Oil and Gas Park is growing. Last weekend, the communities  traded words  over the issue.

    The Itsekiri are claiming prioprietary rights over where the plant is located in Ogidigben; they are not ready to share the project with the Ijaw. The Ijaw, on the other hand, are  accusing the Itsekiri of trying to monopolise the facility.

    The arch-rivals are locked in a battle over the project,  which is expected to sit on a 2,560-hectares of land.

    The two communities have been at each other’s throat over the matter  since August, when the Petroleum Minister, Mrs Deazani Alison-Madueke, and the Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Content Development Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Ernest Nwapa,   unfolded the government’s plans to establish oil and gas parks in nine states.

    The states are Bayelsa, Rivers , Ondo, Cross Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Imo  Delta,Ondo and Edo.

    The cancellation of the ground breaking  ceremony of the facility two months ago by Mrs Alison-Madueke has not doused the tension  between the communities.

    An Itsekiri leader and Ajuwaoy-Iboyami of Warri Kingdom, Delta State, Chief Ayiri Emani, said  Ogidigben belongs to the Itsekiri and, therefore, has the right to host the facility, reputed to be one of the biggest in West Africa.

    Emani said based on this, Ogidigben has the right to host the project.

    He claimed that Ogidigben is an Itsekiri land, going by the geography of the state and do not need to share the facility with another community.

    Emani said: “Traditionally, Ogidigben  belonged to the Itsekiri. The Ogidigben land was acquired by the Delta State government under Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan in 2012.  For record purpose, Ogidigben was part of Ugborodo in Itsekirir land. There are five subclans in Ugborodo. They are Ogidigben, Madangho, Ajudaibo, Arunto, and Ode-Ugborodo. Based on this,  Ogidigben has every right to host and answer the name of the project.’’

    He said the plan to establish the park in Ogidigben and subsequently named it after the community would not degenerate into crisis, as long as the government followed due process.

    “I do not foresee any problem once the government is willing to do the right thing. Nobody wants to take laws into his hands by formenting trouble in the country. I understand that some people are trying to distract the attention of the government on this issue,’’ he said.

    On the sharing of the project, Emani said it would not be right for bothe comunities because the government has committed  a lot of money to the facility.

    He said any attempt, by the government to ensure that the two communities share the project would amount to a waste of time.

    However, a human right activist and  and an Ijaw youth leader, Comrade Sherif Malade, holds a contrary view. He said the two communities have equal right to host the project, when one considers the size of the facility.

    He said a big chunk of the land approved for the project falls within the Gbaramatu Kingdom in Ijaw land, adding that Ogidigben can only boast of the smaller fraction of the land.

    He said Ijaw communities, such as   Ikpokpo, Opuede, Tebujor, Okpelama,Opuedebubor, Oporoza, Sokebolou, Yokiri, and Adedegbene are close to Ogidigben and are expected to benefit from the project.

    Malade said:  “For instance, if the government wants to cite a project in Opebi, Ikeja, Lagos, and found out that Opebi does not have enough land to accomodate the project. There is no way the project would not spill over areas, such as Toyin Street, Allen Avenue, Balogun, Awolowo, and other, neighbouring communities in Ikeja.  Does that make the project an Opebi project? No. The same thing is applicable to the Ogidigben oil and gas park. The land in Ogidigben is small and cannot accomodate the facility. The project will spill over to the  Ijaw communities listed above. That is the reason behind the calls by the Ijaw, that the project should be shared by the Itsekiri and Ijaw.  However, the Ijaw are saying no. We want a sharing formula agreed and acceptable to the two tribes.

    He added: “We do not want the facility to be known as Ogidigben Oil and Gas Park. We want the name of the project to be boldly proclaimed and which we believe should be called  Delta Gas City, Gbaramatu/Ogidigben. Gbaramatu is in Ijaw land, and by this the Ijaw are sharing the name of the project with the Itsekiri. However, the Itsekiri are saying no. That is where the problem is.  The Itsekiri have a lega right to host the facility, so also the Ijaw. Based on this, a sharing formula should be adopted.’’

    He said the project offers more economic benefits to the people, than political, advising people  to stop playing politics with it. He added that some politicians are using their infuence to make the government establish  the park in Ogidigben.

    He urged the government to proffer solutions to the problems, arguing that failure to do so might cause serious crisis in the Niger Delta region and the country. He said the government is yet  to curtail the activities of the Boko Haram, the Islamic insurgents  group, and should not add more to it.

    Malade said the region has witnessed several cases of killings and wanton destruction of properties, urging the government not to allow the Ogidigben issue snowball into a bigger crisis.

    The Spokesman, Nigerian Content Development Monitoring Board, Eze Obinna, said the Board cannot comment on the issue now. He said the Board was not permitted to say anthing until the issues  were resoved.

    President Goodluck Jonathan has waded into the matter to ensure the take-off of the project. His spokesman, Dr Rueben Abati, said the government had set up a committee to settle the matter.

  • Nigerian Content Fund to hit $1b by 2017

    Nigerian Content Fund to hit $1b by 2017

    The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has said its special fund, Nigerian Content Fund,  is expected to double to $1 billion by 2017 from $500 million.

    Oil and gas industry stakeholders say this is good news for indigenous oil firms because access to funds from financial institutions has been a major challenge to them. With the Fund, which stands as guarantee and collateral, its increase means more access to funds by more local firms.

    The Executive Secretary, NCDMB, Ernest Nwapa, who spoke to The Nation at the just-concluded fourth yearly ‘Practical Nigerian Content Forum’in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, said the Fund was expected to grow to $1 billion by 2017.

    He said: “This Fund started four years ago as a zero Fund but today, we are looking at half a billion dollars and we believe that in the next two years, that Fund will hit $1 billion.”

    On how much has been spent from the Fund as interventions for oil firms, Nwapa said the Fund was not meant to be depleted because it acts as partial guarantor for oil firms.

    He said:  “Partial guarantee is a simple model. Banks are designed to give loans and the Nigerian Content Board has, under its administration a Fund derived from one per cent of all upstream contracts. The Board doesn’t have the capacity to operate as a bank, so what we have done is to put the money in banks but the banks don’t lend the money.

    “The banks lend their money and use the Fund as a form of guarantee to strengthen their confidence and the collaterals from the beneficiary oil firms.

    “That is what the banks are doing and that is what you will begin to see increasingly. “Beyond that, if you are buying stock for the oil and gas sector and you are doing capacity building in that regard, your interest rate is rebated to the tune of 50 per cent and that is a major improvement in the situation that we used to have.

    “For instance, if your bank gives you 18 per cent interest rate, the Fund will take nine per cent the moment you start repaying the loan. This  is what we are doing and we are doing a lot to educate the Nigerian populace about this because it is a major game changer for loans from banks.”

    He noted: “Many of the loans that are being taken are being taken because the banks have confidence they have our money in their pockets. Therefore, you wouldn’t be able to know much of it that has been spent because 70 per cent of the entire Fund is intact and nobody will take a dime from it.”

    He stated that the 30 per cent side of the Fund is being used for the oil and gas park and Polaku pipe mill, among others. “We have already bought land and have started doing sand-filling in the Polaku project, we have finished the conceptual design for the pipe mill and the same thing for the headquarters building. Those are the direct interventions of the Fund but for the guarantee section, if any of the banks that are the custodians of the Fund wants to give a loan to the oil and gas service companies, they apply that Fund as 30 per cent guarantee to enable them to give their own money. This is the way it is linked,” he added.

    Nwapa stated that the Nigeria Content Act has achieved a lot because there were things NCDMB never thought could be fabricated in Nigeria because either they were too big or they were too complex. But because of the Act, Nigerian firms have upgraded their fabrication yards to the extent that they have a lot capacity to lift 2000 pounds (lbs) equipment, for example Nigerdock. He added that NCDMB has a lot of new capacities and capabilities.

  • Firm plans to manufacture cables for oil industry

    Royal Niger Emerging Technologies, an indigenous company, is planning to set up a plant for the manufacture of umbilical products in Nigeria that will be dedicated to the local market, the company’s Managing Director, Anthony Okolo, has said.

    An umbilical is a  cable which supplies fluid, power and data to drilling and production equipment. The umbilicals will be manufactured at the company’s facility in Badagry, Lagos.

    Okolo said the facility is expected to begin operations in the second quarter of 2015, adding that the facility will be capable of receiving umbilical components from multiple manufacturers in a variety of configurations, lengths and materials.

    He said: “The plant will be a key element in ensuring that leading manufacturers of umbilical products are able to meet their Nigerian Content compliance requirements by producing up to 60 per cent of the  tonnage of the equipment in Nigeria while offering benefits of reduced cost in logistics and operations.  The plant will also support after market services including repairs, reeler management and splicing.”

    According to him, the plant will complement the efforts of the Minister of Petroleum Resources through the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) to domicile this capacity in Nigeria with the intention to limit capital flight of approximately $400 million, which will occur on projects between 2015 and 2018 without the development of this plant.

    An Executive Director of the company, Mr. Ivan Paoli, said: “The company hopes the industry will recognise the value this investment will bring in order to level the playing field for those that will be involved in umbilical projects in the future. We, therefore, call upon the NCDMB and industry stakeholders to open up dialogue on industry requirements in order to ensure the facility has the requisite flexibility and capabilities to serve the laudable objectives of its inception.”

  • Firm plans to manufacture umbilical products for oil industry

    Royal Niger Emerging Technologies, an indigenous company, is planning to set up a plant for the manufacture of umbilical products in Nigeria that will be dedicated to the local market, the company’s Managing Director, Anthony Okolo, has said.

    An umbilical is a cable which supplies fluid, power and data to drilling and production equipment. The umbilicals will be manufactured at the company’s facility in Badagry, Lagos.

    Okolo said that the facility is expected to begin operations in the second quarter of 2015, adding that the facility will be capable of receiving umbilical components from multiple manufacturers in a variety of configurations, lengths and materials.

    He said: “The plant will be a key element in ensuring that leading manufacturers of umbilical products are able to meet their Nigerian Content compliance requirements by producing up to 60 per cent of the  tonnage of the equipment in Nigeria while offering benefits of reduced cost in logistics and operations.  The plant will also support after market services including repairs, reeler management and splicing.”

    According to him, the plant will complement the efforts of the Minister of Petroleum Resources through the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) to domicile this capacity in Nigeria with the intention to limit capital flight of approximately $400 million, which will occur on projects between 2015 and 2018 without the development of this plant.

    An Executive Director of the company, Mr. Ivan Paoli said: “The company hopes the industry will recognise the value this investment will bring in order to level the playing field for those that will be involved in umbilical projects in the future. We therefore, call upon the NCDMB and industry stakeholders to open up dialogue on industry requirements in order to ensure the facility has the requisite flexibility and capabilities to serve the laudable objectives of its inception.”