Isaac Anumihe and Adewale Sanyaolu
History was yesterday made as the $16 billion Egina Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel belonging to Total Upstream Nigeria Limited (TUPNI) sailed into the country.
The vessel which left the shores of South Korea enroute Nigeria on October 31 last year has a Length Over All (LOA) of 330 metres, width of 63 metres and a gross tonnage of 219,800 tons is adjudged to be the largest FPSO vessel to have berthed on Nigerian waters.
Speaking on the sidelines of the arrival ceremony, Managing Director of TUPNI, Mr. Nicolas Teraz, said Samsung Heavy Industries Nigeria (SHIN) will over the next six months complete the integration of six locally fabricated topside modules at the SHI-MCI Yard in Ladol Island, Lagos.
Upon completion of the integration of the six locally fabricated topside modules, Teraz added that, the FPSO will then begin its final sail-away to the Egina field which is located 150 kilometers from Nigeria shore.
The TUPNI MD said the Egina project is a testimony to the fact that large deepwater projects can be developed with a very high level of in-country activities, thus fulfilling the aspirations and objectives of the Federal Government in terms of employment generation, capacity building and industrial capability development
‘‘This is a game changer as far as the execution of deep offshore oil and gas projects in the country is concerned. It is also a remarkable achievement in local content development in Nigeria.
Being the first project to be launched after the enactment of the Nigerian Oil & Gas Industry Content Development Act in 2010, EGINA is advancing Nigerian Content to record levels and has by far the highest quantum of local content completed for any oil & gas project in Nigeria, and also for Total’s projects worldwide,’’.
On her part, Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Ms .Hadiza Bala Usman, said that this is the first time the NPA, and by extension, Nigeria, would be handling any vessel of this size.
“We recognise that the magnitude of this project presented the NPA with the opportunity to once again showcase our unrelenting effort at building capacity to meet the needs of customers across board. We are grateful for this unique partnership and look forward to more of such.
This project puts a demand on the NPA to facilitate the berthing of the Egina for the completion of its construction at Lagos Harbour. It also furthers the Federal Government’s local content policy with multiplier effects evident in employment opportunities, capacity building, technology transfer, cost saving, reduction in capital flight as well as the attraction of oil and gas hub to Nigeria for the sub-region.
The Egina FPSO is an attestation to the constant infrastructural and operational preparedness of the NPA. It confirms that the NPA is equipped to serve clients efficiently now and in the foreseeable future.
At NPA, we are conscious of the inherent opportunities and challenges, and the successful berthing of this huge vessel testifies to our capacity to provide improved services to the oil and gas industry,’’ She said.
Meanwhile, the Senate Ad-Hoc Committee investigating Local Content and cost variation in the Egina FPSO project said it has uncovered another N500 million contract sum disparity from what the Federal Government approved.
The committee said it made the discovery in continuation of its investigation into the multi-billion dollar offshore oil project in the course of its interaction with SAIPEM Contracting Nigeria Limited, the company handling underwater umbilicals and all under connecting links of the Egina project.