Nigerian professionals and indigenous firms are executing 50 per cent of the Train7 project of the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited valued at $5 billion (about N2.3 trillion at N465/$1 official exchange rate).
The Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Engr. Simbi Wabote, stated this on Wednesday in Abuja at a briefing on the 4th Nigerian Oil and Gas Opportunity Fair (NOGOF) slated for May 17–19 in Bayelsa.
Wabote said Nigerians had zero participation when the NLNG Train 1 to 6 projects were executed due to lack of capacity.
“But with the advent of NOGOF, today, 50 per cent of the activities in NLNG Train7 is being done by Nigerians because we provided the prior information which enabled them to prepare themselves to participate in that project.
“If you want to extrapolate the value that the 50% of local content is on the NLNG, I think the project is a total of $5 billion and 50% of that ($2.5bn or N1.15trn) is being handled in-country and by Nigerians. That is significant and this only happened because we provided a lot of Nigerians the opportunity,” he said.
Wabote also said, NCDMB is expanding its focus to reach other African countries, adding that before, Nigeria’s oil industry spent $21bn annually and less than 5% of that remained in the country. “Virtually everything was done outside the country but today, 54% of that is retained in-country in terms of monetary value and the activities.”
The Director, Monitoring and Evaluation, NCDMB and NOGOF 2023 Project, Akintunde Adelana, said the NOGOF was conceived in 2016 and first held in 2017.
“From experience, NOGOF has been very successful and has far reaching impacts on businessmen in the oil and gas industry,” he said.
Also commenting, the Managing Director, Jake Riley and NOGOF Project Consultant, Funmi Ogbue, said it is a platform to witness the shared prosperity for indigenous firms in the oil and gas sector.
