The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) said it targets to generate an annual turnover of $360 million from its various partnerships in commercial ventures.
Its Executive Secretary, Simbi Kesiye Wabote, revealed this at a two-day capacity building workshop the Board organised in Lagos for members of the Senate Committee on Local Content and House of Representatives Committee on Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring with the theme: “Building capacity for effective oversight towards the realisation of the objectives of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act) and its Amendment.”
In his paper titled: “Implementation of Nigerian Content Act: the story so far,” Wabote said NCDMB targets an annual turnover of $360million from its various partnership in commercial ventures.
“These ventures include the 5,000 barrels per day (bpd) Waltersmith Modular Refinery in Ibigwe, Imo State and the 12,000bpd Azikel Hydroskimming Modular Refinery in Bayelsa State. Other partnerships include 400,000 units per day LPG Cylinders manufacturing plant at Polaku, Bayelsa state, a 168,000 metric tonne per annum loading and off-loading LPG terminal in Koko, Delta State and 48,000 litres per day facility in Port Harcourt, Rivers State for the production of base oil from used engine oil,” he said.
Wabote said the Board’s implementation of the Act had resulted in the retention of about $9 billion annually from the average $20 billion industry spend. He added that about nine million man-hours had been achieved in training while indigenous players now own about 40 percent of marine vessels that operate in the oil and gas sector.
The NCDMB chief regretted the drought of Final Investment Decisions (FID) on major oil and gas projects. He recommended that one major project should be sanctioned in the industry every two years interval to ensure continuous use of capacities and capabilities established in-country and sustainability and growth.
He also canvassed for the involvement of relevant agencies by government and private sector entities while negotiating terms of foreign loans, to ensure due consideration of Local Content requirements in the foreign loans and the attendant projects.
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Local Content, Senator Teslim Folarin, stated that the retreat was organised to enable the legislators have an i-ndepth knowledge on the mandate of NCDMB, its governing Act, identify areas of amendments and understand their oversight functions. To him, the effective enforcement of the NOGICD Act will enhance in-country value creation and retention and generate employment for Nigerians across the industry value chain, especially now that revenue accruable to the Federal Government from other key sectors of the economy was dwindling. He promised that the National Assembly will continue to collaborate with NCDMB to understand its challenges and that of the industry, with a view to providing necessary legislative support for the Board to enforce the NOGICD Act.
The Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring, Hon Legor Idagbo, underscored the need for improvement in the implementation of the Nigerian Content Act, with a view to increasing the contribution of the oil and gas sector to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Idagbo noted that the House Committee had a robust relationship with its Senate counterpart and expressed hope that it would lead to tangible benefits for the country.
He said the committees will commence their oversight functions immediately after the retreat, so that Nigerians can derive maximum benefits from Local Content implementation.
