NCDMB prioritises partnerships with IOCs on new projects

The Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, Felix Ogbe, has reiterated the determination of the agency to continue partnering with international oil companies to develop new projects.

Ogbe stated this recently when he visited the facilities of Samsung Heavy Industries Nigeria and Africoat Nigeria Limited, a pipe coating plant, located at Takwa Bay, Lagos.

The visit was consistent with Ogbe’s determination to assess oil and gas facilities across the country as a prelude for their participation in ongoing and upcoming major oil industry projects.

According to him, the NCDMB played key roles in accelerating approvals for new projects like the Ubeta gas development project currently being developed by TotalEnergies and the Bonga North deepwater project, for which Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited had announced the final investment decision in December 2024.

Similarly, the Zabazaba deep-water project is being readied by ENI and Shell, just as preparations for the HI and HA gas projects are being made by SNEPCo.

Ogbe said the board will work with the IOCs to ensure they execute key scopes of those projects using local firms with proven capabilities, as mandated by the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act.

He asserted that NCDMB’s mandate and activities are contributing to actualising President Bola Tinubu’s economic agenda, particularly in catalysing new oil and gas projects, job creation, and economic revitalisation.

At the Samsung Heavy Industries, the Managing Director, Mr Jin Lee highlighted the firm’s in-country capacities, which include heavy fabrication and FPSO integration quayside.

He reiterated the company’s experience in executing major oil and gas projects, notably the fabrication and integration of six modules for TotalEnergies’ Egina FPSO in 2018.

The Business Development Manager at SHIN, Mr David Bruce, said the company trains welders in different specialisations and had trained 560 welders during the execution of the Egina project, including women.

According to him, the facility employed over 1,000 people at the peak of the Egina project, but its capacity was now scaled down to 131, owing to a lack of projects.

The company, he said, has a database of past employees and would re-engage some of them if it wins a new major project.

He also hinted that the company planned to manufacture oil and gas components and equipment in Nigeria for export to other parts of the world. He confirmed that the SHIN facility had adequate installed capacity and capabilities for export, and Nigeria enjoys a vintage geographical location for such business opportunities.

At Africoat, the NCDMB boss challenged the firm’s management to resolve the protracted dispute with their bankers and their landlord—Lagos Deep Offshore Logistics—which has stopped the plant from operating since its completion in 2017.

He suggested that a peaceful settlement would allow for the plant to be rehabilitated before it could work for the industry and benefit the investors while creating jobs for the economy.

The Managing Director of Africoat, Mr Frank Twynam, confirmed that efforts were ongoing to resolve the impasse.

Twynam noted that $42m was invested to develop the corrosion and concrete weight coating plant, hinting that a robust plan was already in place to restore the facility once the dispute is resolved.