A destroyed refinery By Favour Ifeoluwa & Akinola Ajibade The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited( NNPCL) says it has destroyed 134 illegal refineries in the last few weeks. Also, the company said 63 illegal pipeline connections were uncovered during the the weeks . The corporation, In a visual report, stated that at about 2 am on Sunday, a joint team of security agents discovered a large wooden boat illicitly loading stolen crude oil from Barge AGS01 within the OML 18 operating area, noted intelligence report a large wooden wooden boat was caught receiving crude oil from the barge. According to the state-owned oil firm, while the barge was towed away with a tugboat in custody, five speedboats used in towing the large wooden boat to the illegal loading site were also detained and the particulars of the tugboats and barge used for the operation were reportedly seized for further investigation. It further said that two large boats, which involve
By Favour Ifeoluwa & Akinola Ajibade
Theecutive Secretary (ES), Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Simbi Wabote, yesterday( Tuesday) said the Board has achieved 83 per cent out of 96 per cent of its strategic roadmap.
He said this at the 12th Practical Nigerian Content Forum In Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, adding that efforts were in top gear to ensure full realisation of the blueprint in the near future.
He also said the Board earned $500 million as dividend for partnering to establish Waltersmith Refinery located in Imo State.
Speaking during the Forum themed: ‘Deepening Nigerian Content Amidst Divestments, Domestication & Wabote assured stakeholders that NCDMB is committed to carrying out “some heavy lifting” to achieve the remaining key initiatives, spelt out in the Board 'strategic roadmap.
Stakeholders, he said, should collaborate with the Board to deepen local content in the country.
He said: “Under the roadmap, the technical operations data in NOGIC-JQS shows that the number of registered industry operators moved from 53 in 2018 to 114 in 2023 representing about 100% increase. Within the same period, service companies increased from 8,000 to 11,000 while individual registrations increased from 140,000 to almost 400,000.
“Certification of Nigerian Content Plans increased from 178 in 2022 to 255 in 2023, while the approved Nigerian Content (NC) Compliance Certificates dropped from 197 in 2022 to 168 in 2023.
“With the support of the industry, our sponsors, principals, advocates, staff, contractors, host communities, and even critics, the transformational impact of the delivery of these initiatives has been of resounding success”.
The NCDMB boss hoped that the higher certified NC Plans in 2023 would soon translate to approved contracts with NC Compliance Certificates as the industry gets accustomed to the policy directions of the new government.
He noted that the Board, in its efforts to shorten contracting cycle to a maximum of six months, signed a fresh Memorandum of Understanding for a new Service Level Agreement SLA-MOU with industry operators and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited NNPC (NNPC Limited).
Wabote also revealed that 889 expatriate quotas were approved in 2022 while 179 were rejected, adding that the board has worked hard in the last five years to consistently cut back on expatriate quota.
Under the Technical Capability Development pillar of the roadmap, he said Nigeria’s in-country fabrication capacity moved from 60,000tons per year to 250,000tons/year.
“Regarding our Commercial Ventures portfolio, we partnered with Waltersmith to establish a 5,000bpd modular refinery in Ibigwe, Imo State. This year alone, the refinery has produced and sold over 170million liters or about 3,000 trucks of petroleum products that would have been hitherto imported using our scarce forex.
“Under the Strategic Roadmap initiatives, we made substantial recoveries from the Third-party Forensic Audit of the NCDF Remittances instituted to determine, track and recover outstanding statutory remittances into the Fund, he stated.
In his remarks, the Chairman, Independent Petroleum Producers Group (IPPG) and Waltersmith Refinery, Abdularasaq Isa, while applauding the Wabote-led management of NCDMB for the taking giant steps to reposition the industry, also raised red flags in certain aspects of the its operations.
“I would like to encourage the NCDMB to review certain aspects of our legislation that may potentially work against the competitiveness of Nigeria’s oil & gas sector in the global marketplace. A case in point is the Human Capital Development training requirements wherein industry participants are required to set aside 3% of project cost (projects above $1million) to conduct local content training. “While this is undoubtedly a laudable initiative, we must consider that it amounts to a multiplication of levies as industry participants are already equally required to contribute a separate 1% of total costs as NCD levy.
“This invariably leads to higher project costs especially as the training is not allowed to be provided directly to company staff and service providers. Due to this and other contractual or administrative reasons, the process of complying with local content requirements has, on many occasions, proven to significantly increase the overall cost of delivering projects in Nigeria,” he explained.
Under Wabote’s watch as NCDMB ES, the Board has achieved numerous achievements which many stakeholders believe will give hope to the industry.
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