The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board says it plans to partner the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemical Free Trade Zone Enterprises to ensure full implementation of the local content policy.
The Executive Secretary, NCDMB, Mr Simbi Wabote, who was represented by the Director, Monitoring and Evaluation, Mr Akintunde Adelana, disclosed this during the DPRP Nigerian Content Sensitisation/Awareness Creation Programme, titled: ‘Let’s walk the Nigerian content talk together’ in Lagos.
He said, “The Dangote refinery project is expected to close a major gap in the supply of petroleum products in the country. We consider this as a very important project and we are willing to partner the company to ensure full implementation of the local content policy.
“We embarked on this journey with the company a long time ago and we are ready to partner the Dangote Group. Part of what you see to today is part of our efforts to ensure that the company and its contractors comply with the local content policy.”
Wabote said the country recorded losses prior to the enactment of the local content policy, as international oil companies operating in the country executed jobs abroad.
“The narrative then was that nothing could be done in-country. Plants and modules were fully fabricated offshore without any structure in place to achieve knowledge transfer. Before 2010, we had no active dry-dock facilities. The few we had were abandoned and left to rot away. Today, we have four active dry docking facilities in Port Harcourt, Onne, and Lagos,” he added.
According to him, the NCDMB’s mandate is to develop local capacity in key areas such as manufacturing and fabrication and promote indigenous ownership of assets and utilisation of indigenous assets in oil and gas operations.
Wabote said, “The board’s responsibilities also include linking the oil and gas industry with other sectors of the economy, enhancing the multiplier effect of oil and gas investments in economy and developing a pool of competitive supply chain rooted in oil-bearing communities.
He said non-compliance with the Nigerian content law would result in the suspension of projects/contracts, penalty of five per cent of project sum, and withdrawal of the NCDMB’s services, among others.
Other penalties for non-compliance, according to him, are escalation to other regulators to withdraw or suspend licence; withdrawal of approvals or de-classification of contractor from pre-qualification list; application of the full weight of the law in accordance with Section 68; and publication of non-compliant operators in newspapers and professional gazettes.
Also speaking on the occasion, the Chief Operating Officer, DPRP, Mr Giuseppe Surace, said the programme was organised to create awareness among the company’s contractors on the requirements of the NCDMB.
“The programme was organised to ensure that our contractors are well informed about the Nigerian Content Act and this is expected to assist them with the execution of not just the Dangote project, but other projects in their portfolio,” he added.