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Shell Nigeria has reaffirmed its commitment to the Nigerian content initiative in the oil and gas industry, saying the initiative was good not only for Nigeria but for the multinational companies’ businesses.
Speaking recently in Lagos during an investment summit hosted by Shell for some 100 Nigerian and British companies, the Managing Director of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo), Mr. Chike Onyejekwe, disclosed that Shell companies in Nigeria awarded contracts worth $2.4billion to Nigerian companies in 2012.
Onyejekwe said the figure was $1billion higher than the value of contracts awarded to Nigerian companies by the oil giant in 2011.
“Local content is good for Nigeria and for the business and we are determined to raise the game,” he added.
Also speaking, the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, represented by Mike Purves, said he was overwhelmed by the quality of attendees at the event, adding: “It shows that the symbiotic commercial interest between Nigeria and Britain is profitable.”
In a keynote address, the Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Content Development and Monitoring Board, (NCDMB), Mr. Ernest Nwapa, commended Shell for the “sustained interest in the Nigeria/UKTI investment forum.
“Since the first summit, we have seen a significant number of companies participating at the event and we hope they will focus on areas that will improve their capability. It is good to see that other IOCs are beginning to follow Shell’s example by organising similar engagements,” Nwapa said.
The Group General Manager, National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), a subsidiary of the NNPC, represented by one of the General Managers, Mr. Luke Anele, said supply chain transactions accounted for 65per cent of the total business value in the oil and gas industry and promised to support IOCs to develop local content in the sector.
The Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Local Content, Hon. Asita, in his remarks promised that the lower chamber would strengthen the Nigeria Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act to create a conducive environment for value-driven partnerships and businesses to thrive.
Some 100 Nigerian and British companies attended an investment summit in Lagos, jointly hosted by Shell and the United Kingdom Trade & Investment (UKTI), as part of efforts to forge partnerships among businesses in the two countries.
Some 45 British companies met with their Nigerian counterparts to discuss potential areas of collaboration in Engineering Procurement Installation Commissioning (EPIC) contracts, manufacturing, fabrication and general oil and gas services.
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