Operators urge NCDMB to enforce local content rules in oil sector

Petroleum industry operators have approached the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board to implement the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act, 2010 to effectively increase production in the sector.

Panelists at a session titled “Exporting Local Capacity: Maximizing Regional Opportunities” during the Nigerian Oil and Gas Conference held in Abuja on Monday said that while Nigeria has increased its oil production capacity, its local participation regulations need to be enforced to preserve and properly utilize this capacity before it is exported.

Nestoil Limited CEO Ernest Azudialu-Obiejesi, one of the panelists at the session, explained that many African countries now look at Nigeria with respect because of the achievements the country has recorded in local content.

“It is very important that we maintain these capabilities,” he said, adding that the government, through the NCDMB, should help achieve this goal.

Azudialu-Obiejesi said: “Today, people look to Nigeria to learn from what Nigeria has been able to achieve in the oil sector. This means that they recognize that Nigeria has achieved a certain level of achievement in terms of local content.

“So I think if you want to maintain the ability in your country, you have to pass local content laws that are enforceable, laws that you can enforce. It’s one thing to make the laws, and it’s another thing to be able to enforce them. And you have to make sure that it works.”

The Nestoil boss said he believes “what the NCDMB has done is good, but they must continue to enforce these laws so that Nigerians who have developed these capacities can retain them,” adding that this will have a positive impact on the sector.

The Managing Director of Westfield Energy Resources Limited, Henry Okolie-Aboh, spoke on the same matter, stating that Nigeria has increased its capabilities in the oil and gas sector.

He called on the NCDMB to support operators in the sector in developing these capabilities through local content regulations, adding that the petroleum sector needs a large number of skilled workers to thrive.

Earlier, the Executive Secretary of the NCDMB, Felix Ogbe, said the Nigerian Content Seminar, which is the flagship programme of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Energy Week conference, was organised to engage stakeholders and expose how the agency enforced local content regulations.

He said, “As we all know, the Nigerian Seminar session at NOG Energy Week is a flagship programme of NOG.

“The seminar provides an opportunity for the Board to engage with our stakeholders and share the efforts and actions we are taking as a Board towards achieving our key mandates of developing local capabilities and competencies and enforcing compliance with the Nigerian Petroleum and Gas Industry Content Development Act 2010.

“This seminar is also an excellent platform to provide clarity, explanation, guidance and advice to the industry on the provisions of the Act, Ministerial Regulations and NCDMB guidelines.

“Others include tools and initiatives such as human capacity development, Nigerian Content Plan, Nigerian Content Equipment Certificate, implementation of expatriate quotas, monitoring and evaluation, remittances from the Nigerian Content Development Fund, Nigerian Content Intervention Funds and others.”

Ogbe added that he was pleased that the Federal Government valued the issue of local content, recalling that President Bola Tinubu had earlier this year issued a presidential directive on local content compliance requirements.

“The Presidential Directive aims to further deepen local content in the Nigerian oil and gas industry, while enhancing competitiveness, reducing the risk of approval of unqualified contractors, shortening the approval timeline and creating a conducive business environment in the Nigerian oil and gas industry,” the NCDMB boss stated.