Oil & Gas
MAJOR international operating oil and gas companies, notably Shell Petroleum Development
Company (SPDC) and Exxon Mobil Nigeria, and the Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC)
have made significant investments in support of the ongoing development of the Nigerian Oil
and Gas Parks Scheme (NOGaPS), the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development
and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Engr Simbi Kesiye Wabote has revealed.
He stated this recently at the Nigerian Content Sensitization Programme for Law
Enforcement Agencies, organised by the NCDMB in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State with a view to
strengthening the existing collaboration with various law enforcement organizations and
sister agencies and leverage their expertise and partnership to accelerate Nigerian content
compliance in the oil and gas industry.
He gave a breakdown of the Board’s achievements and initiatives and hinted that NCDMB
was developing the oil and gas parks in conjunction with key operators in the oil and gas
industry. According to him, Shell funded the provision of power and utility cables deployed at
the oil and gas park located at Emeyal -1, Bayelsa State, while Exxon Mobil provided the
electrical infrastructure for the park at Odukpani in Cross River State. Also, NAOC had
earlier partnered with the Board to develop the 10-megawatts gas power plant that would
supply electricity to the Bayelsa park when completed, in addition to providing uninterrupted
electricity currently to the Nigerian Content Tower and some strategic infrastructure owned
by the Bayelsa State Government.
The Executive Secretary also confirmed that the Board had signed an agreement with the
Gas Aggregation Company of Nigeria (GACN) to establish a gas-fired power plant at the
Odukpani, park – to provide the park with constant electricity. He assured that the power
facility will be ready before the end of 2022, about the same time the Emeyal-1 and
Odukpani parks would be completed, ahead of commencing operations in early 2023. He
announced that the Board had started inviting interested manufacturing companies and
other firms to apply for spaces in the parks. The parks would have dedicated power supply
and shared services and were conceived to domicile equipment components manufacturing
in-country, to meet the needs of the oil and gas industry and sectoral linkages as well as
create jobs for the nation’s teeming youths.
Wabote also indicated that the Board was also working to develop oil and gas parks at
Oguta in Imo State, at Onna in Akwa Ibom, Ilaje in Ondo State and in Delta State, and work
was progressing in different stages at the identified locations. He confirmed that the
completed oil and gas parks would be managed by professional facility managers, to ensure
their sustainability.
He also stated that the Board is partnering with the Nigeria LNG Limited to develop the
Brass Island Shipyard as a Capacity Development Initiative. He hinted that the feasibility
study, geotechnical survey, and site selection study had all been completed. In addition, the
land valuation and perimeter survey had also been completed and the plan is to construct
the shipyard in two phases, he added.
Speaking further on the rationale for organising the workshop and engaging with law
enforcement agencies, the NCDMB boss noted that “when you are speaking the same
language with Customs, they will guard against the importation of goods that can be
produced incountry, while immigration will help in terms of expatriate quota management.”
In his welcome address, Head Legal Services NCDMB, Barr Naboth Onyesoh said the
Board recognizes the power of collaboration and the impetus it generates for the attainment
of its mandate and that is why Compliance and Enforcement is one of the five pillars of the
Board’s 10-year Strategic Roadmap, formulated to drive Nigerian content growth to 70
percent by 2027. He remarked that “collaboration and stakeholder engagement was also
identified in the same 10-year Roadmap as one of the four enablers to attain the 70 percent
Nigerian Content growth target.”
He maintained that since the oil and gas industry serves as the mainstay of Nigeria’s
economy, all stakeholders of the industry should support the implementation of the Nigerian
Content Act to ensure that Nigeria derives maximum value from the oil and gas industry
while it is still relevant in the global energy mix.
The workshop featured several presentations and panel discussions from representatives of
the invited agencies and legal luminaries who proposed various strategies for improving
enforcement and compliance with the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development
(NOGICD) Act.
