The Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, Mr. Ernest Nwapa, an engineer, has said that developing local content will ensure that Nigerians benefit from the multi-billion dollar investments expected to flow into the country after the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill.
Failure to sufficiently domicile the service and manufacturing ends of the oil and gas industry operations, he warned, would mean that investments would flow into the country, but take flight in the form of overseas procurement of equipment used for operations and remuneration of expatriate personnel working on the projects.
As such, the NCDMB boss said concerted efforts must be made to develop Nigerian content on the journey to a post-PIB oil industry for the benefit of the local economy and Nigerians in general.
Speaking at panel session organised by the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria at the just concluded Offshore Technology Conference in Houston Texas, United States, Nwapa insisted that there was an urgent need to expand discussions around the proposed legislation beyond the fiscal terms; adding that the Nigerian content development should be a critical element of the discourse.
He said, "It is expected that when PIB is passed, it will result in massive investment flow and those investments will yield revenue for Nigeria. But what we are looking for is a kind of impact that can give us employment on top of the revenue.
"That type of impact would only come from the investments that result in domiciliation. It is a good thing we have had a three-year head-start in the implementation of the Local Content Act which has enabled us create some capacities in Nigeria such that as the PIB is being passed and investments are coming, we would then have jobs arising from the investments being executed locally."
Explaining the relationship between the Nigerian Content Act and the PIB, Nwapa said there was an urgent need for the big multi-nationals and other companies operating in Nigeria to encourage the establishment of facilities where components of industry equipment could be manufactured locally.
According to him, local manufacturing holds the key to creating jobs in the oil and gas industry.
He said, "The responsibility of the Nigeria Content Development and Monitoring Board is to work with the industry to drive the establishment of these manufacturing facilities and that is why the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke is pushing for the launch of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industrial Park Scheme."
The executive secretary said the NCDMB would use the Nigerian Content Fund to create industrial parks close to the oil fields and get Original Equipment Manufacturers to mentor small and medium scale enterprises to manufacture components of their equipment used in the industry.
"The big manufacturers would come to the park and select a local partner that would manufacture their components," he emphasised.
The NCDMB boss canvassed for industry support for the Board's initiatives, especially the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industrial Park Scheme and the establishment of a new pipe mill to support the existing SCC Mill in Abuja.
He explained that when the initiatives became successful, Nigerians would reap immense benefits from the PIB as more industry activities would be domiciled.
He said, "It is a good thing to get the investments in because we need to increase our revenue intake from oil production, but the real endgame for us is to ensure that when as we are getting revenues, we are getting our people to work.
"Government agencies can only employ a few thousands, but the real employment can come from commercial activities that would arise from our preparedness to expand operations."
The theme of the PETAN OTC panel was 'Post PIB Regime: Challenges and Opportunities for Investment in the Nigerian Oil and Gas industry.'
Stakeholders, who participated in the panel, agreed on the need to ensure that the PIB, which is presently on the floor of the National Assembly, is passed speedily.
They also concurred that the new law should be infused with provisions that will, among other things, ensure increased take for government from industry operations without discouraging investments, while providing incentives for local refinery and investments in gas.
