The management of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has stressed that fabrication and procurement of materials in-country are two key areas the board will pay serious attention to, if the agency must achieve its 70 per cent local content target of the 10-year strategic roadmap for the oil and gas industry by 2027.

The Executive Secretary, NCDMB, Simbi Wabote, said this in his address at the three-day 10th edition of the Practical Nigerian Content (PNC) Forum in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, with the theme, “Driving Nigerian content in the new dawn of the Petroleum Industry Act.”

He noted that fabrication and procurement are among five categories, including engineering, project management and services, which the agency “monitored for evaluation of Nigerian content” with 42 per cent aggregate level achievement so far.

Wabote said, “It is however pertinent to note that while the Nigerian Content (NC) performance in engineering as one of the top-three spend areas is above the 70 per cent target, there is need to focus on the other two areas namely: Fabrication and Procurement of materials if we are to realise the 70 per cent target by 2027.

“That is why we are keen to ensure that the established in-country fabrication yards are utilized for sanctioned projects such as NLNG Train-7 as well as drive local manufacturing of goods such as chemicals, hardware, spares, accessories, and other consumables via our commercial venture partnerships and our oil and gas industrial parks.

“Overall, we believe we are on track towards the 70 per cent NC target but we will need the support of all industry stakeholders to make it happen.”

He said under the 10-year roadmap journey of the board, there are a total of 96 initiatives, out of which 56 are on track, 24 are ongoing while 16 are not yet due, noting that “overall, 75 per cent of the roadmap initiatives are on track as at November 2021.”

The NCDMB boss also said that the PIA had further reinforced the role of the board in the oil and gas industry, adding that “we are poised to fully utilize the opportunity provided to derive maximum benefit for our country.”

In his remarks, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, represented by the Director, Human Resources Management in the ministry, Famous Eseduwo, said President Muhammadu Buhari had booked his place on the bright side of history, particularly of the country’s oil and gas industry, with the passage of the PIB.

“Signing the Bill into law in August is a watershed event in the annals of Nigeria’s petroleum industry which has literally rolled away the cloud of uncertainty that has hindered investments into the industry for so long,” Sylva stated.

He said that the Federal Government had established the board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPC), constituted the management teams for the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Regulatory Authority (NMDRA) after the president assented to the PIA.

The minister added, “Government expects that with the PIA now in place and supported by the enabling structures to Wade doing business, new Final Investment Decisions (FIDs) should begin to happen rapidly in the Nigerian oil and gas industry.”

The Governor of Bayelsa State, Douye Diri, who declared the forum open, said his administration had planned to establish vocational, science and technical colleges in each local government area of the state with the objective of training manpower who could confidently fit into demanding roles in the oil and gas sector.

Diri commended the leadership of the NCDMB for sustaining the PNC in the past 10 years, describing the annual initiative as iconic.

TodayNG