Adewale Sanyaolu, Yenagoa
The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has announced plans to finalise the review of offshore rig acquisition and vessel strategy.
Its Executive Secretary, Mr. Simbi Wabote, disclosed this at the 8th edition of the Practical Nigerian Content (PNC) with the theme, ‘‘Local Content: Driving Economic Development and Sustainability Forward”, in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State yesterday.
He said the review would also come with the posting of 20 marine personnel for one year international sea time in fulfilment of the requirement for the Certificate of Competency (CoC). The need to carry out the review may not be unconnected with the $6.2 billion loss to foreign ship owners who lifted oil from Nigeria in 2015.
Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mr. Maikanti Baru, had said during a dinner with Ship Owners Association of Nigeria (STOAN) that the country specifically paid out $6,165,800,104 to foreign shippers who lifted a total of 771.69 million barrels (bbl), representing 107.18 million metric tonnes of crude oil, in 2015.
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On plans for 2019, Wabote said the board plans to support the establishment of at least one more modular refinery and participate in the LPG value chain if the conditions precedent are in place to ensure the infrastructural development of the industrial parks.
He added that the board equally plans to firm up power supply arrangement to its industrial park in Cross River State.
‘‘We will also carry out youth empowerment programmes to enhance conducive business environment and establish a functional customer service desk. Under the Organisational Capability pillar, we are targeting the completion of our new NCDMB headquarters in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, this year. We were unable to deliver on this due to the late arrival of some of the construction materials.
“We are, however, on course to deliver by next quarter. We plan to host the Nigerian Oil and Gas Opportunity Fair (NOGOF) at the new auditorium in March 2019,’’ he stated.
As regards the sectorial and regional market linkages, he disclosed that the board has delivered on its promise to provide inputs into various legislative processes as required to enhance sectorial linkage in local content practice.
‘‘In 2019, we plan to validate and prioritise opportunity sectors for local content development. Regional marketing of some of the infrastructure being developed such as the Floating Production Storage Offshore (FPSO) and integration facility will be further pursued.
Like I indicated in my address during the last Practical Nigerian Conference held in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, I am committed to ensure that value is derived from conferences we organise rather than just using them as talk shops.
“I introduced our 10-year strategic roadmap aimed at increasing our Nigerian content level from current levels to 70 per cent by 2027 and highlighted that we will utilise forums like this to provide update on our progress on the strategic roadmap.”