The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has restated its commitment to ensure the patronage and deployment of indigenous oil and gas service companies as part of its plan to drive development of operational capabilities in the implementation of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act.
The Director, Monitoring and Evaluation, Alhaji Abdulmalik Halilu disclosed this during the load-out ceremony of OML 100 skided ejector package, fabricated and assembled by an indigenous company, Wilkriss Nigeria Limited for residual gas recovery.
A visibly elated Halilu commended TotalEnergies and its Joint Venture (JV)partners, sponsors of the project for providing an opportunity for capacity utilization by an indigenous company.
According to him, Wilkriss deserves commendation for the top-notch quality in project execution which was significant on two levels.
“First is the output, which is the skid itself. Being able to deliver the right quality on schedule. The other leg where we try to evaluate the outcomes in terms of jobs created on the back of this project.
“We will be interested in all those metrics: we want to see the man-hours 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.”
According to him, NCDMB has conducted a baseline census in fabrication yards and it has seen a major trend in terms of burst and boom era, in terms of capacity utilisation.
Speaking on the wider significance of the Wilkriss breakthrough with the Skided Ejector Package for the oil and gas industry, Halilu said it would contribute to supply feedstock of the NLNG.
“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 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.”
An Executive Director of Wilkriss, Engr. Naaba Umahi, thanked the NCDMB boss and the Management for honouring the invitation to the Load-out Ceremony, which he said marked a major milestone not only for the company but the industry and the country, given that a project of such magnitude could be executed in-country with a workforce, which included 6-G-certified welders, that was 100 per cent Nigerian
