Enforce oil sector local content laws, operators tell NCDMB

Oil industry operators have charged the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board to enforce the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act of 2010 to effectively boost the output of the sector.

Panelists at a session titled, “Exportation of Local Capacity: Maximising Regional Opportunities,” during the ongoing Nigerian Oil and Gas conference in Abuja on Monday, said though Nigeria has grown its capacity in the oil business, its local content laws must be enforced to retain and adequately utilise the capacity before exporting them.

The Chairman, Nestoil Limited, Ernest Azudialu-Obiejesi, a panelist at the session, explained that many African countries now look up to Nigeria based on the gains recorded by the country in local content.

“What is very important is that we need to sustain the capacities,” he stated, adding that the government, through the NCDMB, should assist in making this happen.

Azudialu-Obiejesi said, “Today people are looking up to Nigeria to learn from what Nigeria has been able to achieve in the oil sector. This means that they recognise that Nigeria has made some level of achievements in local content.

“So what I think is that if you want a stay of capacity in your country, you have to enact local content laws that are enforceable, laws that you can be able to enforce. Making laws is one thing and being able to enforce it is another thing. And you must make sure it works.”

The Nestoil boss said he believed that “what the NCDMB has done is good, but they need to continue to enforce these laws so that Nigerians who have developed these capacities will have the capacities stay,” adding that this would impact positively on the sector.

Also speaking on the issue, the Managing Director, Westfield Energy Resources Limited, Henry Okolie-Aboh, said Nigeria has grown its capacity in the oil and gas sector.

He urged NCDMB to support operators in the sector in expanding this capacity through the local content laws, adding that the oil sector requires a lot of skilled manpower to flourish.

Earlier, the Executive Secretary, NCDMB, Felix Ogbe, said the Nigerian Content Seminar, which is a flagship programme of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Energy Week Conference, was put together to engage stakeholders and disclose how the agency had been enforcing the local content laws.

He said, “As we are all aware, the Nigerian Content Seminar session of the NOG Energy Week Conference is a flagship programme of the NOG.

“The seminar gives the board the opportunity to engage with our stakeholders and share the efforts and activities we are making at the board towards achieving our critical mandates of developing local capacities and capabilities and enforcing compliance with the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act of 2010.

“This seminar is also an excellent platform to provide clarity, expositions, tips, and guidance to industry practitioners on the provisions of the Act, the ministerial regulations, and NCDMB guidelines.

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

Ogbe further stated it was encouraging that the Federal Government values the local content agenda and recalled that earlier this year, President Bola Tinubu issued a presidential directive on local content compliance requirements.

“The presidential directive seeks to further deepen local content in the Nigerian oil and gas industry while enhancing competitiveness, mitigating risks of approving unqualified contractors, improving the approval timeline, and creating an enabling business environment in the Nigerian oil and gas industry,” the NCDMB boss stated.