Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe, the Executive Secretary of NCDMB, reaffirmed this commitment during a visit to pipe coating firms in Port Harcourt, Rivers State on Friday, May 10, 2024. The visit, which included officials from the Board and Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC), aimed to strengthen partnerships with companies specializing in pipe coating and related services.
Engr. Ogbe assured stakeholders that service companies and manufacturers with established capacities in Nigeria will continue to receive patronage through contract awards from operating companies in the sector. This pledge underscores NCDMB's dedication to promoting local content and enhancing the capabilities of indigenous firms within the oil and gas industry.
The team visited Brightwaters Energy Limited, formerly known as Willbros Nigeria Ltd, Solewant Nigeria Limited and Pipe Coaters Nigeria, managed by Tenaris Nigeria Ltd.
The Executive Secretary said 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.
According to a press release by the Corporate Communications unit of NCDMB, 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, Mr. Scott Gregory thanked the Executive Secretary for leading the visit while highlighting that Brightwaters, formerly Willbros carried out Nigeria’s first pipe coating in 1962.
“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 NCDMB expressed delight that some of the oil and gas projects that had been pending for nearly 10 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.
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