The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has reiterated its commitment to comply with the nation’s local content laws so as to further strengthen in-country value addition in the oil and gas industry
Group managing director of the Corporation, Dr Maikanti Kacalla Baru, made this announcement while speaking at the 2016 Oil Industry Achievement Awards & Dinner organised by the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN) in Lagos, on Thursday.
He was speaking on the theme “Local Content Compliance in an Extended Low Oil Price Environment,” and observed that over the years, NNPC has been at the forefront of championing local content even before the enactment of the Local Act in 2010.
“In our determination to maximise participation of Nigerians in our projects and domicile project activities in-country, we in the NNPC have been implementing the Nigerian Content Policy as enshrined in the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development [NOGICD] Act even before the enactment of the act in 2010,” he said.
He said that NNPC was deeply concerned with the low level of Nigerian content in-country, despite the nation’s almost 50 years of oil industry experience.
“That was why we called for a fresh approach to domesticating oil and gas industry spend through the establishment of the Nigerian Content Division (NCD) with the aim of implementing key national content initiatives,” he added.
Some of these key local content initiatives include the promotion of local manufacturing of steel plates and pipes as well as the development of engineering design expertise among Nigerian engineers.
Describing the Nigerian content policy as a catalyst for the nation’s industrialisation, Dr Baru stated that the policy has been tested as a result of the current volatility in oil prices witnessed globally.
A ‘paradigm shift’, in accordance with a new operating philosophy that would lay emphasis on in-country manufacturing, job creation, skills and technology development, capital retention, research and development as well as fostering sectoral linkages with other critical sectors of the nation’s economy, was needed, he said.
“Nigeria needs to claw back most fabrication work and other services in the industry from foreign yards – thereby increasing the contribution of the industry to the nation’s GDP. It is our goal to achieve much more,” Dr Baru further noted.
