NCDMB commits to growth of local companies to boost economy

The Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe, has conveyed the Board’s determination to ensure that the capabilities of local oil and gas service companies are known and adequately utilised by operating companies in the industry to boost local content and provide employment.

This, he said, was in line with the economic aspirations of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.

Ogbe, in the company of senior officials of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), made the disclosure while on a facilities’ tour at Brightwaters Energy Limited, Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

The tour to the company’s facilities at Choba, Port Harcourt, and Emohua in Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers State was a follow-up to the NCDMB’s boss’ earlier visit to the company and some pipe coating facilities in May 2024.

At that visit, he pledged the Board’s support for local service companies, giving them opportunities in the oil and gas industry and creating jobs in the economy. The latest visit was to assess Brightwaters Energy’s upgrade of its technical capabilities, which would position it for upcoming industry projects.

Ogbe recalled that Brightwaters had performed well in the execution of projects in the exploration and production segment of the industry over the years, with a clientele that included SPDC and Chevron Nigeria Limited, among other major oil and gas operators.

He was convinced that the company has the capacity required for key scopes in upcoming industry projects. He charged operating oil and gas companies to always support qualified service companies, while ensuring that the best quality service is delivered at all times and on schedule.

In opening remarks at the event, the Community and Corporate Affairs Manager of Brightwaters, Mr Solomon Aluge, confirmed that the firm had been engaging the team from SPDC and was equipped to carry out heavy or light fabrication works. He indicated that Brightwaters has carried out many onshore and offshore pipeline engineering and installation works for various clients.

Elaborating on the scope of operations of his company in the oil and gas sector, he pointed out that Brightwaters is “mobilising for Chevron and Tulcan pipeline works” at the moment.

Earlier, in welcome remarks, the Chief Executive Officer of Brightwaters, Mr Scott Gregory, expressed happiness at the presence of the Executive Secretary, Engr. Ogbe, and the representatives of SPDC at the meeting, assuring all that the company has enormous capabilities for services in the oil and gas industry. He provided technical details of a number of projects executed by the company offshore and onshore in its many years of operation in Nigeria, noting that some of the upcoming field projects were well within the company’s competencies.

Among key facilities visited in the tour were a blast furnace, where the process of smelting was demonstrated with hot compressed air being blasted into a furnace from below, and a multipurpose offshore construction vessel known as Sea Horizon Derrick Lay Barge, with a heavy-lift capacity of 1,320 tons. Marine construction activities performed by the vessel, according to the company, include “installation of rigid and flexible pipelines, risers and umbilicals [flexible hoses that connect surface equipment to subsea equipment].”

In his comments after the facility tour, the General Manager Local Content Shell, Mr. Lanre Olawuyi, conveyed the company’s good impressions with the facilities and capabilities of Brightwaters Energy. He affirmed that the technical teams would review their reports and make decisions on how to engage the company in some of their upcoming projects.

He expressed delight that the company had upgraded its facilities since the last visit in May 2024 and expressed hope that the facility would attract more patronage from the oil industry so it would bounce back to its former glory.

On the entourage of the Executive Secretary were the Director, Project Certification and Authorisation Division (PCAD), Engr. Abayomi Bamidele; Deputy Manager, Corporate Communications and Zonal Coordination, Dr. Obinna Ezeobi; and a technical staff member in the Executive Secretary’s office, Mr. Ilu Ozekhome.

      READ MORE FROM: NIGERIAN TRIBUNE