The Federal Government, yesterday in Lagos declared that with effect from January 2015, Maritime vessels purchased overseas without inputs from local ship builders in Nigeria will not be allowed to operate in Nigeria.
This, was revealed by Mr Ernest Nwapa the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development Monitoring Board, (NCDMB) at the Loadout celebration of the Domestic Supply Obligation (DSP) Meren Gas Gathering Compression Platform (GGCP) and Sonam Non-Associated Gas Well-head Platform projects (NGWP) organised by Nigerdock at the Snake Island, Lagos.
Nwapa said that the idea was to develop local capacity in line with the local content initiative of the Federal Government and it becomes necessary in light of the fact that a number of Nigerian companies, such as Nigerdock, have developed the capacity to manufacture high quality vessels that meet international standards.
According to him “From January 2015, companies seeking to buy Marine vessels that will work in the Nigerian territory must submit the Nigerian Content plan of purchase, so that we determine which part of the vessels would be manufactured in Nigeria, any company that fails to abide by this new rule, when the vessel is purchased it will not be allowed to work in Nigeria.”.
Nwapa, , hailed Nigerdock’s success with the Meren jacket and associated decks as a milestone in the quest towards achieving increased local content in the nation’s oil and gas sector.
He called for increased patronage of local companies by the international oil companies in the execution of their major projects, saying Nigerdock has demonstrated the ability of Nigerians to provide facilities and skilled manpower required for the execution and delivery of major projects.
Highlights of the work performed so far by Nigerdock on the Meren GGCP and Sonam NGWP include the fabrication of a total of 7,000+ tons of steel over the last three years.
Besides, Meren and Sonam jackets are the largest fabricated projects in the country, each of them weighing well over 1,000 tons.
Also, Sonam NGWP topside, currently in advanced stage of construction, will be the largest to be built in-country at a total weight of 3,500 tons fully-equipped before load-out.
Currently, Nigerdock has worked with 700 workers on average throughout the projects’ duration and has achieved 1.7 million lost times injury-free man-hours cumulated on both projects scopes, which is still accumulating due to the fact that the overall projects are still on-going.
Added to these, over 150,000 man-hours of Local Content, specialised training has been performed under the project umbrella.
Nigerdock Nigeria Plc has successfully completed the fabrication of the jacket and associated decks for the Domestic Supply Obligation, DSO, Meren GGCP and Sonam NGWP project, belonging to Chevron Nigeria Limited, CNL, and operator of the NNPC/CNL joint venture.
Jarmakani added that “the project was a value-added one for Nigeria, it is 100 percent started and completed in Nigeria on target and within budget, and in the process of also creating jobs for hundreds of Nigerians”s.
Represented by Mr. Manssour Jarmakani, executive director of Jagal Group, the chairman said the general scope of work being undertaken by Nigerdock for Chevron covers the fabrication of the jacket, piles and bridges for the Meren GGCP Platform, and also the entire structures for the Sonam NGWP
On completion, the GGCP and NGWP are expected to deliver a combined 420 million cubic feet per day, (mmcf/d) of natural gas to Chevron’s Escravos Gas Project (EGP), representing a major leap towards using natural gas and a step towards eliminating gas flaring from its assets.
Speaking also at the event is Mr. Lloyd Crisp, Managing Director, Nigerdock Nigeria Plc who said that the projects would be completed within schedule and budget agreed with Chevron/NNPC in order to meet the offshore installation windows.
“The project has been a huge success and demonstrates the enormous benefits the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act (NOGICDA) is bringing to this country by driving investment into infrastructure and people, and giving opportunity for indigenous companies like Nigerdock to demonstrate their capability to deliver on schedule and on budget,” Crisp said
