News
FG Goes Tough on Local Content,
Warns Oil Firms
The Nigerian government
has said that they will not take it lightly with any player in
their oil and gas industry, including big oil that will seek to
subvert their local content policy in the industry.
Industry watchers are
seeing the warning as being directed at oil majors alleged to be
frustrating the efforts of the authorities as far as the local
content policy is concerned.
For big oil operating
in the Niger Delta, the main oil and gas basin of Nigeria, their
honey moon over subverting the policy appears to be over. A
Federal Government agency on Local Content, has warned that
government will no longer condon any act of sabotage on the
issue.
The Executive Secretary
of Nigerian Local Content Development and Monitoring Board, Mr.
Ernest Nwapa, an engineer, handed down this warning in Warri,
the commercial nerve centre of Delta State at the weekend, while
inspecting and inaugurating some facilities of a local oil
servicing company.
According to him, ''the
Nigerian Local Content has come to stay and we are encouraged
with what FENOG Nigeria Limited is doing. Government is really
impressed with the giant strides of FENOG''
It was however,
gathered that the company is one leading local players in the
oil and gas industry, Industry watchers said the company has
huge investments running into billions of dollars in the Niger
Delta and has absorbed hundreds of youths out of the choked
labour market.
''The Federal
Government has directed us to find strategies to encourage local
companies like FENOG Nigeria Limited to pick up goods because
the government is resolutely committed to the Local Content
Policy,” Nwapa said.
The board chief
executive officer has accordingly warned that any of the oil
majors found to be violating the local content policy will be
appropriately sanctioned. ''Government will not tolerate
deliberate frustration of the indigenous companies by denying
them of patronage in the oil and gas industry'', he said. Nwapa
who was accompanied by some officials of the oil majors insisted
that government will be firm in ensuring compliance with the
Nigerian Local Content Act.
Facilities they
inspected at FENOG include a 40-acre jetty and some major
equipment, particularly the Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD)
Rigs 250 and 500, designed to take oil pipelines across the
river and drill as well as laying up to 5.5km per stretch of
pipes measuring between six to 70 inches in diameter up to a
depth of a maximum of 100 metres.
On ground to conduct
them round the facilities were the company’s Group General
Manager, Mr. Bello Oboh and Executive Director, Mr. Mathew
Tonlagha.
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