We’re committed to sustainable local content development in Nigeria – TotalEnergies

A multinational oil and gas firm, TotalEnergies EP, has once again reiterated and reaffirmed its commitment to renewable energy, local content development, and sustainable development in the Niger Delta and Nigeria, adding that the people remain its major focus in its new drive to contribute its own quota to their well-being.

The Executive Director, JV Assets, TotalEnergies EP, Mr Obi Imemba, who spoke yesterday on the theme, “Next Frontier for Nigeria Content: Divestment and Offshore Opportunities,” at the ongoing 13th Practical Nigerian Content (PNC) Forum in Yenagoa, stressed his company’s commitment to preserving the region’s biodiversity as well as developing young talents. It was anchored by the President of Women in Energy Network (WIEN), Dr. Fatai Williams.

Mr. Imemba, who highlighted the opportunities and development strides in local content development since inception, urged other operators to focus not only on divestments but also on human capital development.

According to him, climate change is a global challenge, and we believe that whatever we do if we want a sustainable future for all of us, we need to make sure that our activities are not detrimental to the environment.”

He added: “There is an ever-growing need for energy, so we will continue producing energy here, but we have to produce this energy in a sustainable manner. And when you talk about sustainability, there are many angles to it.

“When we talk about sustainability, some people just talk and think about climate. But the first pillar of sustainability is the people. And that is where capacity building comes in—those people who will be the anchors that will drive the production in a sustainable manner.

“For example, there is the knowledge gap we discovered about 25–30 years ago regarding the people ready to work in the industry, whether it is shallow water, onshore, or deep offshore. We used to go on recruitment campaigns in the US, Europe, and all over the world trying to look for talent.

“But we became intentional in 2003 and established what we call the Institute of Petroleum Studies, Uniport, which is a tripartite partnership between IFP School in Paris, Uniport, and us (TotalEnergies). This school has run for 21 years, producing more than 700 master’s degree and MSc PGD candidates. So when they finish, we offer them one year of internship within TotalEnergies’ offshore and onshore offices. And after that, there is a possibility of recruitment. A lot of them are recruited within TotalEnergies and outside.

“The models are designed to address the needs in the industry. We updated the curriculum to include the main point of fighting climate change. So we have called it the Institute of Petroleum and Energy Studies now to incorporate new energies at the main point of the environmental concerns associated with fossil fuel production.”

He lauded the NCDMB for deepening local content in the country, noting that TotalEnergies has done remarkably well in this direction.

“We have achieved more than 94% local content in terms of 100% from engineering, installation, construction, and installation, among others, and this was done during the COVID period. We were able to train a lot of welders, fitters, and technicians.

“One thing we are very proud of is our intentionality in developing the capacity of our people from our communities. This is very cardinal for us in whatever we do. For every project, we identify people from the communities that we will give all levels of training.”