NCDMB pledges to boost capacity utilisation, patronage for companies

The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), has committed to the capacity utilisation and patronage of Nigerian service companies.

In a statement on Tuesday, NCDMB assured that patronage and deployment of indigenous oil and gas service companies would remain of strategic importance to take advantage of the massive development of operational capabilities since the implementation of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act over the years.

Abdulmalik Halilu, director of monitoring and evaluation of NCDMB, said in the statement that the project was significant in two respects. “First is the output, which is the skid itself. Being able to deliver the right quality on schedule.”

He made this known in Port Harcourt, Rivers State at the load-out ceremony of OML 100 skided ejector package, fabricated and assembled by an indigenous company, Wilkriss Nigeria Limited for residual gas recovery.

He pointed to metrics he had observed, which he described as quite good, noting that it is very positive for Monitoring and Evaluation. The other leg, he explained, is “where we try to evaluate the outcomes in terms of jobs created on the back of this project.”

He said further “We will be interested in all those metrics: we want to see the manhours covered, the skills developed, probably new capabilities – some of the equipment that you didn’t have before but because of the opportunity that TotalEnergies has provided, you’re able to acquire them.”

He advised the company to update its profile on NCDMB’s Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Joint Qualification System (NOGIC-JQS) platform as soon as possible “to show that this is additional capability that you have acquired.”

On the wider significance of the Wilkriss breakthrough with the Skided Ejector Package for the oil and gas industry, he said: “We know Nigeria has signed on to net zero carbon emission by 2060. So this project which seeks to reduce gas flaring – ultimately that means carbon emission – is part of the global momentum we have today around decarbonisation and net zero.”

The other bit that is of interest, according to him, is “the fact that the Skided Ejector Package helps with the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas feedstock. Being able to unlock availability of feedstock is very important. It’s no point completing Train-7 of the NLNG and everybody is struggling with supply of feedstock.”

In his concluding remarks, he urged the company to think of how staff who worked on such a project would remain engaged in operations in the industry so the knowledge is retained and improved upon, just as the company itself must strive to build capacities as new technologies emerge.

Meanwhile, Naaba Umahi, Executive Director of Wilkriss, said the company and TotalEnergies “were able to agree on materials that could be procured locally.”

On the scope of work carried out, he said that it was from steel cutting to completion, and that there was no rework at any stage. “Functionality tests, pressure tests, and related activities were all handled by company staff, without a hitch.

“Among the challenges Wilkriss faced initially was the review of project design, an undertaking, and experience he said were rewarding as they brought out the best in their engineers, yielding what turned out to be process improvement.”

Umahi, who doubles as Deputy Managing Director of Wilkriss, assured the NCDMB that the company would strive to build capacities for new technologies continuously.