Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG) has again expressed committed to ensuring Nigerians benefit maximally from all its operations beyond mere compliance with local content targets as set out in the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act (NOGICD) 2010.
NLNG’s Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Philip Mshelbila, said this last Wednesday when he led a delegation on a courtesy visit to the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Simbi Wabote, in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
Mshelbila was quoted as saying that NLNG considered Nigerian content a core part of its strategy in line with its corporate vision of being “a globally competitive LNG company helping to build a better Nigeria.”
He commended the NCDMB for the successful and historic relationship between the regulator and the company, which emphasized joint value creation, citing the unique Service Level Agreement (SLA) between NLNG and NCDMB as a classic example of the Board enabling business.
He also expressed appreciation to the Board for the collaboration, which led to the smooth take-off of the Train 7 project that recently recorded seven million safe man-hours without a lost-time injury (LTI) incident.
He also expressed NLNG’s commitment to 100% in-country supply of its liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) volumes, adding that within the context of the global energy transition, support of regulators like the NCDMB is critical to ensuring access, availability and affordability of energy for domestic consumption.
He therefore proposed the formation of an NLNG-NCDMB Technical Working Group that would meet periodically to discuss and resolve such strategic and other operational issues.
Mshelbila was accompanied NLNG’s Deputy Managing Director, Olalekan Ogunleye; General Manager, External Relations and Sustainable Development, Andy Odeh; General Manager, Human Resources, Terhemba Makeri; Manager, Contracts and Procurement Management, Abdul Umar; Manager, Nigerian Content Development, Dagogo Buowari; Manager, Community Development, Charles Epelle, and a host of others.
…within the context of the global energy transition, support of regulators like the NCDMB is critical to ensuring access, availability and affordability of energy for domestic consumption.
In response, Wabote commended its NLNG for smooth and successful leadership transition while maintaining national pride of being led by a 100% Nigerian senior management team.
He assured that the content regulator will continue to work with NLNG to deliver on its Nigerian content commitments in the Train 7 project to positively impact local manufacturing capacity and employment levels in the country.
He also encouraged the liquefied gas company to begin preparations for Train 8, while supporting the idea of an exchange programme of staff between both organizations to deepen knowledge of each other’s inner workings for better partnership and business efficiency.
Wabote said the Board will adhere to its Business-to-Business SLA, which is the first in the industry and had set a standard for shortening the contracting cycle and improving compliance with the NOGICD Act.
He encouraged NLNG to plug into on-going efforts by NCDMB to widen LPG distribution and storage across multiple zones in the country.
NLNG is a joint venture company owned by four shareholders – the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (49%), Shell Gas B.V. (25.6%), TotalEnergies Gaz & Electricite Holdings (15%), and Eni International N.A. N. V. S.àr.l (10.4%).
