Government woos investors to upstream, refinery projects

…NCDMB Targets Completion Of 8 Oil/Gas Projects by 2023
The Federal Government has urged investors to explore opportunities availed to them through upstream and refinery projects, just as the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), says it plans to complete eight oil and gas projects within the next two years.

The Executive Secretary, NCDMB, Simbi Wabote, made the disclosure on Tuesday at the opening of the virtual 2021 Nigerian Oil and Gas Opportunity Fair (NOGOF), themed, ‘Leveraging Opportunities and Synergies for Post Pandemic Recovery of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry.’

According to him, the completion of the projects will boost local capacity and create job opportunities for Nigerians.

Wabote said the projects to be completed and commissioned include two additional modular refineries in Edo and Bayelsa states following the successful completion of the Waltersmith Modular Refinery at Ibigwe, Imo State

“This implies delivery of one modular refinery per year within a three-year period. We shall complete and commission composite Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinder-manufacturing plants with a combined capacity of 1.2 million cylinders per annum in Bayelsa and Lagos State.

“We shall commission three other projects dedicated to gas processing, LPG bottling, and production of base oil. We shall commission and commence operations from our industrial parks at Odukpani and Emeyal-1 in Bayelsa State.”

The executive secretary said NCDMB had so far committed a total of $332 million to attract project developments valued at $3.7 billion under its commercial ventures partnership programmes.

Also speaking, the Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kyari, said there was an abundant opportunity for both foreign and local investors in Nigeria’s petroleum sector.

Kyari said the conference would further foster institutional collaboration and participation of indigenous company’s oil and gas activities in order to maximize the benefits of the huge oil and gas resources for the people.

On his part, Senator Teslim Folarin, Chairman, Senate Committee on Local Content, said the National Assembly would continue to support efforts geared toward quick recovery of the oil and gas sector from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Folarin commended the NCDMB for developing local capacity and participation in the industry, stressing that the lawmakers were ready to continue to support the board’s objective.

In his keynote address, Chief Timipre Sylva, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, said NOGOF was a key platform for showcasing upcoming opportunities in the upstream, midstream, and downstream sectors of the industry.

The minister who was represented by his Chief of Staff, Moses Olamide, said the last edition of NOGOF, which held in 2019, put Nigeria in the spotlight and opened a plethora of opportunities for indigenous companies to key into the industry across the entire value chain.

Sylva noted that the theme of the conference was very apt, as Nigeria must begin to look at ways to accelerate the recovery of the industry post-COVID-19.

He, therefore, urged participants and other stakeholders to use the fair to evaluate the opportunities, discuss strategies, and form synergies that would ensure the recovery and growth of the industry.