TheCable

Simbi Wabote, executive secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), says local content level in the country’s oil and gas sector has surpassed the minimum target.

He spoke at the ongoing 12th edition of the practical Nigerian content (PNC) forum, in Yenagao, Bayelsa state.

At the end of 2017, the NCDMB launched a 10-year strategic roadmap to increase Nigerian content in the oil and gas industry to 70 percent by 2027.

Speaking on the initiative, Wabote expressed delight that the journey has been transformational “from where we started to the point where we are now”.

Wabote said the board has completed 83 percent of the 96 initiatives under the roadmap — with the focus now shifting to the remaining initiatives that “require some heavy lifting” to actualise them.

With the support of industry stakeholders, Wabote said the transformational impact of the delivery of the initiatives has been of resounding success.

“Under the roadmap, the technical operations data in NOGIC-JQS shows that the number of registered industry operators moved from fifty-three (53) in 2018 to one hundred and fourteen (114) in 2023 representing about 100% increase,” he said.

“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 NC (Nigerian content) Plans increased from 178 in 2022 to 255 in 2023, while the approved NC Compliance Certificates dropped from 197 in 2022 to 168 in 2023.

“We believe the higher certified NC Plans in 2023 will soon translate to approved contracts with NC Compliance Certificates as the industry gets accustomed to the policy directions of the new government.

“To shorten contracting cycle to a max of 6 months, a new SLA-MOU has been signed with industry operators and NNPC Limited.”

Waboted also said a total of 889 expatriate quotas (EQs) were approved in 2022 while 179 EQs were rejected.

“The expatriate quota approval is trending down in the last five years,” the NCDMB boss said.

“This year, a total of 1,156 EQs were approved at the end of November compared to 889 approved in 2022. (Also), 328 EQs were compared to 179 rejected last year.” 

‘NIGERIAN CONTENT LEVEL REMAINS AT 54%’

Speaking further on the agency’s status report, Wabote said the 2023 Nigerian content level “in the Nigerian oil and gas industry is 54% based on our monitoring and evaluation of industry activities”.

“This is similar to the 54% NC level achieved last year,” he added.

“Once again, this performance is well above the minimum target of 47% NC set for 2023 by the Board’s Project Management Office (PMO) just like we outperformed the 42% NC target set for 2022 by achieving 54% Nigerian Content.”

The executive secretary said the top three performers of in-country spend are shipping, surveying and positioning services, and inspection and testing, and certification — with each at 100 percent level.

On the other hand, the bottom three performers are modification and maintenance at 26 percent NC level; health, safety, and environment at 31 percent NC level; and materials and procurement at 32 percent.