Energy
NCDMB, NLNG to deepen partnership on projects, LPG penetration
By John Mommoh
The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) and the Nigeria Liquified Natural Gas Limited will set up a tactical team comprising nominees from both organizations to drive closer collaboration on projects, ensure compliance with Nigerian Content obligations and promote other strategic alliances for the good of the nation’s economy.
L-R: Director Finance & Personnel Management, NCDMB, Mr. Isaac Yalah; Director Monitoring & Evaluation, Mr. Akintunde Adelana; Deputy Managing Director Nigeria LNG, Mr. Olalekan Olufemi Ogunleye; Executive Secretary, NCDMB, Engr. Simbi Kesiye Wabote; Managing Director, Nigeria LNG Ltd, Dr. Philip Mshelbila and General Manager, External Relations & Sustainable Development, Mr. Andy Odeh at the courtesy visit of the Nigeria LNG management to the Nigerian Content Tower, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
This decision was reached on Wednesday when the Managing Director of Nigeria LNG Ltd, Dr. Philip Mshelbila led his management team to pay a courtesy visit to the Executive Secretary of the NCDMB, Engr. Simbi Kesiye Wabote at the Nigerian Content Tower, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
The Managing Director explained that the visit was conceived to introduce the company’s new management team to the NCDMB.
He stated that “NLNG and NCDMB have a special partnership that is beyond operator and regulator relationship. We started this relationship when we signed a Service Level Agreement (SLA) a few years ago and it put in place standards by which we would work together and ensure compliance and guard against surprises.”
He said the current plan is to take the relationship further and beyond complying with the provisions of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act.
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He said the reason is that “NLNG has a vision not just to be a globally competitive NLNG business, but to help build a better Nigeria.
To do that we have to work closely with the NCDMB and raise our partnership to a new level, and that includes human development, research, and other areas.”
Speaking on the ongoing Train 7 LNG project, Mshelbila recalled how NCDMB supported the Nigeria LNG in various ways to enable the takeoff of the project.
He said: “The Final Investment Decision (FID) was taken successfully with the help of NCDMB and the project is now under construction, making good and safe progress.
We are looking at potentially 5000 to 10,000 persons being employed in different phases of the project. We already have thousands working on the ground. It is employing various contractors across different areas.
This is a true example of how local content should be.”
The Executive Secretary in his remarks commended Nigeria LNG for its impressive compliance with the provisions of the Nigerian Content Act, adding that the Board has continually fulfilled its obligations on the Service Level Agreement.
He expressed delight with the progress being made with the execution of the LNG Train 7 project, noting that it had reached about 30 percent completion.
He also stated that the worth of the Train 7 project is about $5bn, which represents a huge foreign direct investment (FDI) into the Nigerian economy.
Other economic benefits include the creation of 10,000 direct jobs and about 40,000 indirect employment opportunities.
He added: “There are also upstream projects that are currently being approved that will supply gas to Train 7. Those upstream projects will lead to an additional $6m foreign direct investment into the country.
This will create employment opportunities, touch the lives of families, raise the profile of the country as a major LNG LNG producer and increase our domestic LPG (cooking gas) production.
Train 7 is already providing a lot of jobs for Nigerian contractors, fabricators, logistics companies, and more. The benefits are enormous.”
He assured that the Board will continue to collaborate closely with Nigeria LNG, especially to ensure deeper LPG (cooking gas) penetration into the Nigerian market, hinting that NCDMB had partnered with several investors towards improving the accessibility of LPG.
Wabote also encouraged Nigeria LNG to consider further investments, highlighting that Qatar already had 14 LNG trains.
He said Nigeria needed to grow its LNG capacities, especially with the world’s clamour for energy transition and Federal Government’s declaration that gas is Nigeria’s transition fuel.
Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Ltd (SNEPCo) rode on new wells, optimized reservoir and optimal facility management to produce more oil at Bonga in 2023 than the previous one, a review of operations has shown.
Biztellers reports that Nigeria’s first deep-water development produced some 138,000 barrels of oil per day (boepd) in 2023 compared to around 101,000 in 2022.
The improvement, Biztellers gathered, was driven by drilling of new wells, optimising reservoir and facility management and excellent asset management, inter alia.
Managing Director, SNEPCo, Elohor Aiboni, said, “Bonga continues to justify the investments and hard work that led to its discovery.
“The uptick in production is the result of commitment by staff, continuous improvements in production processes and maintenance and the support of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd (NNPC) and our co-venture partners – TotalEnergies Nigeria Limited, Nigerian Agip Exploration and Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited.
“Working together, we will continue to power lives and deliver value to all stakeholders.”
Recall that Bonga began production in November 2005 through the 225,000-barrels-per-day capacity Bonga FPSO, anchored 120 kilometres offshore. The FPSO exported the 1 billionth barrel of oil last year.
The operations have resulted in remittance of taxes and royalties to the Government of Nigeria to finance development, development of indigenous contactors and service providers, and a wide-ranging social investment portfolio which has improved lives across the country.
The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has reassured industry stakeholders that oil and gas service companies that have established capacities in the country will continue to enjoy patronage.
The Executive Secretary, NCDMB, Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe made this commitment on Friday in Port Harcourt, Rivers State when he led officials of the Board and Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) to visit companies that deliver pipe coating and related services.
The team visited Brightwaters Energy Limited, formerly known as Willbros Nigeria Ltd, Solewant Nigeria Limited and Pipe Coaters Nigeria, managed by Tenaris Nigeria Ltd.
According to the ES, the visits were to assess the companies’ facilities and determine how the Board can galvanize the industry to patronise them.
He underscored the importance of getting first-hand information on in-country capabilities before making key decisions on oil and gas projects. He insisted that operating companies must support and patronise local oil and gas service companies in compliance with the provisions of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act.
Ogbe emphasized that activities in the Nigerian oil and gas industry must be used to create employment opportunities for the nation’s teeming youths and help to resuscitate the economy, in line with the aspirations of President Ahmed Bola Tinubu.
The Chief Executive Officer of Brightwaters Energy Limited, Scott Gregory thanked the ES for leading the visit while highlighting that Brightwaters carried out Nigeria’s first pipe coating in 1962.
He recalled that the facility had 3,000 employees some years back, executing various spheres of oil and gas projects. He conveyed the management’s aspiration to return the
firm to those high-performance levels and sought the Board’s support to win oil and gas projects that would resuscitate the sprawling facility.
“We feel that we can be a positive contributor to Nigeria through the capacities that we have. We want to bring real, true value to the table,” he added.
He admitted that the coating facility had suffered downtime, but assured that the plant would be up and running within 60 days of the award of a new contract.
The Chairman of Tenaris Nigeria, Dr. Ernest Nwapa welcomed the NCDMB’s team to PCNL’s facilities.
He commended the efforts made by the agency to push local content in the industry, attributing it to the good culture that had been established at the Board over the years.
Nwapa, who was the pioneer Executive Secretary of the NCDMB expressed delight that some of the oil and gas projects that had been pending for nearly ten years were now being developed and expressed hope that existing local capacities would be maximized in the execution of those projects.
The team was taken around the company’s facilities and shown the various equipment of PCNL in readiness for the award of new contracts.
Nwapa pledged the commitment of the company to meet the expectations of clients as well as allow them to participate in the supervision of the work in their factory.
The PCNL facility covers an area of 160,000 m2 in the Onne Free Trade Zone. The company offers Anticorrosion, CWC, Thermal Insulation, Internal and Bends Coating plants as well as Double Jointing and Anode Installation Facilities.
At Solewant Group, an EPCI and Pipe Coating Company, the NCDMB delegation was shown round the company’s facilities as well as the new investments, such as the 5mega watts generators, procured to guarantee power supply to the facility.
Accompanying Engr. Ogbe on the facility visits were the Director Projects Certification and Authorization Division (PCAD), Engr. Abayomi Bamidele, General Manager PCAD, Engr. Maurice Iwhiwhu, Special Technical Assistant (STA) to the Executive Secretary, Engr. Mofe Megbele, Deputy Manager, Corporate Communications, Mr. Obinna Ezeobi, and other staff members of the Board.
The SPDC team was led by the General Manager, Nigerian Content Development, Mr.Lanre Olawuyi.
The NNPC Exploration and Production Limited (NNPC E&P Ltd), NNPC Ltd’s flagship upstream subsidiary, and Natural Oilfield Services Ltd (NOSL), a subsidiary of Sterling Oil Exploration & Energy Production Company Ltd (SEEPCO), has announced the successful commencement of oil production at Oil Mining Lease (OML) 13 in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria.
Biztellers reports that the production commenced on the 6th of May 2024 with 6,000 barrels of oil with expectations to be ramped up to 40,000 barrels per day by May 27th, 2024.
The first oil flow from OML 13 is a historic milestone in the partnership between NNPC E&P Ltd and NOSL, highlighting their dedication to driving growth and development in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector, which remains a vital component of the nation’s economy.
The achievement does not only signify the culmination of rigorous planning and execution by the teams involved, but also represents a new era of economic empowerment and development opportunities for the host communities.
Furthermore, for Nigeria, the first oil from OML 13 holds some significance as it contributes to the country’s efforts to increase its oil production capacity, which is crucial for meeting domestic energy needs and driving economic growth.
The NNPC E&P Ltd and NOSL partnership is also committed to operating in a manner that is safe, environmentally responsible, and beneficial to the local communities.
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