NOGOF Boosts Local Content In Train 7 Project To 50%

The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has attributed the high level of indigenous companies’ participation in the Train 7 project as a major benefit of the Nigerian Of Oil and Gas Opportunity Fair (NOGOF).

The board also announced that the fourth edition of the fair,  NOGOF 2023,  will hold from May 17th to 19th 2023. Executive secretary of NCDMB, Simbi Wabote, who disclosed this yesterday in Abuja, said the

the introduction of NOGOF helped to raise local content participation in the NLNG Train 7 Project to 50 per cent by providing prior information to enable Nigerians prepare themselves ahead of opportunities in the industry.

Speaking on this year’s edition, Wabote said the theme of

this year’s NOGOF is ‘The oil and gas industry: Catalyst and fuel for the Industrialisation of Nigeria, stressing that the goal is to use NOGOF as a platform to promote objective that would drive growth and development across the Nigerian oil and gas value chain.

Wabote recalled that the tirst and second editions of the biennial event were hosted in Akwa Ibom and Bayelsa states respectively while the third edition was hosted virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to him, this 4th edition is scheduled to hold at 18th and 19th of May 2023 in Bayelsa State, while delegates registrations will start on the 17th of May followed by a welcome cocktail event same day.

“We are also raising the bar at this year’s event by expanding our focus to include the linkage industries and extending our reach beyond Nigeria to the entire African content” he said.

“When we were looking at strategy on how to develop Nigerian content, that is local capacity to provide services to the oil and gas industry. We went through a gamut of activities and things we needed to do in order to enhance the participation of Nigerians in the oil and gas industry. One of the things that stood out during that process was that they did not even know what opportunities are coming in the future.

“So they came back to us and say look by the time these opportunities materialise, we are not ready to take advantage of them. And we are always on the back foot. How do we get onto the front burner so that we are aware of these opportunities and we prepare ourselves in anticipation of when these opportunities will come?

“So it was out of that request by stakeholders that we looked it and said okay, provide a platform where you will tell them a five years look ahead of opportunities in the industry. Such that people would begin to prepare themselves. And my colleague told you about some of the successes recorded. One of the greatest success that we did record in this is that, we you look at NLNG Train 1to 6, during it’s construction phase, if you go and check the level of Nigerian participation, it was near zero because LNG technology was alien to us and the activities there activities there, everything practically was done outside the country.

“But with the advent of NOGOF, today, 50% of the activities on NLG Train 7 is being done by Nigerians. It’s because we on provided prior information which enabled them to prepare themselves to participate in that project. And I sincerely believe that if we want to build another train of an LNG, I can assure you that almost 70% of it will be done by Nigerians and in-country. So that’s one of the very significant benefits that we brought to bear with NOGOF” he said.

The NCDMB chief executive had previously explained that the showcase of upcoming projects is intended to give Nigerian service companies ample opportunity to build relevant capacities that might be required to execute the projects in-country, thereby creating employment opportunities, and retaining spend in-country.

The goal he added, is also to reassure stakeholders of the industry that opportunities still abound in the Nigerian oil and gas industry and encourage them to look forward and invest in the sector, despite concerns about energy transition and other emerging developments in the global oil and gas industry.

The event which is managed by Jake Riley Ltd promises to have a greater impact this year and the agenda would focus on industry linkages as well as opportunities within the African continent.

It also promises to showcase opportunities that exist in the industry over the next three to five years and presentations will be made by over 20 international and indigenous oil and gas companies.

Wabote said NOGOF since inception in 2017 has made significant gains, providing a platform where players in the industry speak on the existing opportunities for stakeholders to take advantage of, adding that this time, the NOGOF has expanded to include linkage industries and extending the reach beyond Nigeria to the entire African content.