The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board has stated it would not approve oil service companies with no proven capacity to execute projects.
This was as the Executive Secretary of the NCDMB, Felix Ogbe, described the Presidential Directive on Local Content Compliance Requirements as crucial for enhanced competitiveness and mitigation of risks regarding unqualified contractors.
Speaking at the Nigerian Oil and Gas Energy Conference in Abuja on Wednesday, the NCDMB boss identified that the non-inclusion of intermediary entities lacking the essential capacity to perform from the Nigerian Content Plan, and the approval of contractors that meet the legal definition of Nigerian companies and demonstrate capacity to execute projects within Nigeria would be important to implementing the presidential directive.
According to Ogbe, the board will ensure that entities acting solely as intermediaries, “with no demonstrable capacity to execute projects or activities shall not be approved”.
He assured that the board would continue to leverage its existing processes “to assess and verify the capacity of companies, facilitating and carrying out in-country capacity audits in collaboration with all relevant stakeholders”.
On enhancement of cost competitiveness of oil and gas projects, he said operators in the industry would only be permitted to source capacities out-of-country only after in-country capacity gaps have been identified.
“Tender opportunity’s pre-qualification and technical evaluation phases would be used to eliminate entities identified as incapable of performing,” he stated.
He noted that international players’ participation would be deemed appropriate only when the necessary Nigerian content level is unavailable locally or inefficient.
The NCDMB boss reiterated that the board remained steadfast in its dedication to guarantee that any services provided will generate value in the country and that it would evaluate current policies and guidelines to encourage the development of Indigenous capabilities and guarantee that the policies and guidelines were not misused, misapplied, or misinterpreted.
Also, the Director of Projects Certification and Authorisation Certificate at the NCDMB, Abayomi Bamidele, explained that NCDMB had enabled oil and gas development through its policies, collaboration and investments.
He indicated that about 1,000 Nigerian service companies were registered on the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Joint Qualification System in 2011, adding that the number had increased to 13,000, while the number of operating companies had equally increased to 120 firms.
He charged service companies to only accept jobs they have the technical capacity to execute, and to eschew the practice of bidding for every job in the oil and gas industry.