Wabote: Nigeria will become oil, gas hub

By Akinola Ajibade

Nigeria will become the hub for oil and gas activities in Africa if the industry sustains its current momentum in the area of oil production and exploration, the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board( NCDMB), Executive Secretary, Mr Simbi Wabote, has said.

He spoke in Lagos during a capacity workshop organised by the Board for media reporters.

The workshop focused on: Strategic Communication-  A critical Enabler to Attainment of Nigerian Content 10 Years Roadmap.

Speaking on the successful completion of the Egina Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) facilities by Samsung Heavy Industries( SHI), Wabote said the project has placed LADOL Free Trade Zone on a global map, as well as ensuring that the country became a hub for fabrication and integration of FPSO in Africa in the future.

Represented by the Board’s General Manager for Corporate Communications Dr Ginah Ginah,  Wabote said through the FPSO project, the country has become a reference point for the conception of ideas, which gave birth to a standardised and larger oil facilities in the continent.

He said the country would regain her position as one of the largest producers of oil, considering the fact that the country would be producing 200million barrels of crude per day through the FPSO.

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According to him, the decision of SHI to build FPSO would help improve activities in the sector.

He said LADOL would be grateful for the opportunity to participate in the construction of the FPSO, adding that local companies would be willing to form a synergy with foreign oil firms in the future.

Wabote said: “Under the local content implementation, we have seen a major breakthrough with the massive investment by Samsung in Lagos. The successful construction and integration of the FPSO for the Egina project is worthy of mention, and this is a key success story.

Going forward, this singular asset will bring about massive revenue to the country as we expect other African countries to take advantage of the facility instead of going outside the shores of the continent for FPSO construction.

“Samsung has proved to have effectively transformed the country into FPSO construction hub, and recall we were doing this in Korea before now.”