MEDIATRACNET
To ensure that Nigerians derive maximum benefits from all its operations, the Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG) has restated its commitment to the compliance to the Nigerian Content Development policy.
The company’s Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Philip Mshelbila, said the commitment would go beyond mere compliance with Nigerian Content targets set out in the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act (NOGICD) 2010.
Mshelbila who led a top management delegation from the company on a courtesy visit to the Executive Secretary (ES) of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Simbi Wabote, at its head office in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
The NLNG delegation included 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, among other NLNG staff members
Mshelbila said 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, the country’s Nigerian Content Development regulator, for the successful and historic relationship with the company.
The relationship, the MD said, 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 expressed appreciation to the Board for the collaboration, which led to the smooth take-off of the Train 7 project, which recently recorded seven million safe man-hours without a Lost-Time Injury incident.
Mshelbila said the NLNG remained committed to 100 percent in-country supply of its liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) volumes.
Within the context of the global energy transition, the MD said the support of regulators like the NCDMB would be critical in ensuring access, availability and affordability of energy for domestic consumption.
He proposed the formation of an NLNG-NCDMB Technical Working Group that would meet periodically to discuss and resolve such strategic and other operational issues.
In his response, the Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Simbi Wabote, congratulated the Nigeria LNG for smooth and successful leadership transition, while maintaining national pride of being led by a 100 percent Nigerian senior management team.
Wabote gave the assurance that the regulator would continue to work with the NLNG to deliver on its Nigerian Content priorities and commitments in its Train 7 Project, to positively impact local manufacturing capacity and employment levels in the country.
He encouraged the company to begin preparations for Train 8, and while also endorsing 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.
The NCDMB boss said the Board would continue to adhere strictly to its Business-to-Business Service Level Agreement (SLA), as it remained the first in the industry.
He said the agreement had set a standard for shortening the contracting cycle and improving compliance with the NOGICD Act in the industry.
Besides, he encouraged the NLNG to plug into ongoing efforts by the NCDMB to widen the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) distribution and storage of the commodity across multiple zones of the country.
The NLNG is owned by four Shareholders, namely the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited on behalf of the Nigerian government (49%), Shell Gas B.V. (25.6%), TotalEnergies Gaz & Electricite Holdings (15%), and Eni International N.A. N. V. S.àr.l (10.4%).
