NCDMB delivers 8 partnership projects, facilitates 5 new training programs
- Special programs initiated for host community youths
Sopuruchi Onwuka
Some five petroleum industry related projects facilitated by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) have been delivered in full.
Executive Secretary, Engr Felix Ogbe, declared at the 13th Practical Nigerian Content PNC Conference in Yenegoa that the projects are critical to realization of the agency’s mandate of promoting and developing local capacity for resource valorization.
Besides the projects which align with the mandate to build the capacity of Nigerian companies and individuals to actively participate in the oil and gas industry, Engr Ogbe said, the agency is also driving over five separate training programs for all cadres of industry workforce in efforts to further boost local content of the industry.
In providing updates on the agency’s strategic partnerships, he listed the unveiling of Bell Oil and Gas’ 50,000 metric-ton integrated Oil Country Tubular Goods (OCTG) facility at the Lekki Free Trade Zone, Lagos State.
He also pointed at the commissioning of 10,000 metric ton capacity galvanizing plant by Daewoo Limited.
There was also the establishment of the Nigeria Oil and Gas Park Scheme (NOGaPS) in Bayelsa, Cross River, and Akwa Ibom states.
The NCDMB, he stated, also commissioned a 300 MMSCFD gas gathering and injection facility in Kwale, Delta State, in partnership with NedoGas.
Engr Ogbe also counted commissioning of a 180-metric-tonne LPG filling plant in Kaduna, and a 100-metric-ton LPG storage and bottling plant in Katsina State; all
in partnership with Butane Energy.
As part of it’s host community development (HCD) initiatives, the Executive Secretary declared, the NCDMB initiated cadetship training for 63 cadets on ocean-going vessels.
He added that the NCDMB also launched an internship program in partnership with Shell and PETAN for training 49 graduate engineers, geologists, and geoscientists.
The agency facilitated the Nigerian Content Human Capital Development (NC-HCD) Basic Training for 331 Nigerians on the NLNG Train 7 Project.
On intervention at the nations tertiary institutions, Engr Ogbe counted completion and commissioning of Engineering Design Studio and Information Hub at the Federal University of Owerri (FUTO), Imo State.
He explained that the FUTO project was delivered in collaboration with the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited.
“Similarly, we completed and commissioned an E-Library at the Niger Delta University in Amassoma, Bayelsa State, in partnership with SPDC and its JV partners,” he told delegates.
The interventions and several other initiatives have helped in pushing Nigerian Content level in the petroleum industry from 26% in 2016 to 56% by 2024.
“Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, I am excited to announce to you that our Nigerian Content level has increased from 26% in 2016 to 56% by 2024,” Engr Ogbe declared.
Still on skills development,
Engr Ogbe told delegates that the agency’s Back to the Creek initiative would further equip host community youths with requisite skills needed to meet industry demands and directly support the local content drive.
This initiative, he said, aligns closely with the mandate of President Bola Tinubu to create an enabling environment for businesses to thrive.
“This initiative will be implemented in three phases: first, the improvement of primary education infrastructure; next, the enhancement of secondary education; and finally, providing scholarships and facilitating employment opportunities for top-performing students from oil-producing communities,” he explained.
