The Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Mr Timipre Sylva, has disclosed that local content in Nigeria’s hydrocarbon resources industry has risen from three percent about 10 years ago to 43 percent in view of the far-reaching reforms embarked upon by governments in recent years.
The minister made this disclosure when he received the Senegalese Minister of Energy, Dr. Aissatou Sophie Gladima, and her delegation in Abuja.
He explained that the Federal Government, as part of its efforts to improve the local content component of the operations in the sector, had put workable policies in place to ensure that at least 70 per cent of positions and assets are deployed by the country by 2027.
Sylva stressed the need for the African countries to collaborate in the task of charting sustainable growth forward for the various economies, stressing that Africa cannot continue to depend on Europe, Asia and other continents in addressing its socio-economic problems.
While noting that Nigeria has gained some advantages and learnt some key lessons from her past mistakes, the minister recalled how oil was discovered in the country and its exploration over the past decades.
He expatiated: “The first commercial discovery was made in 1956 and the first cargo of crude oil left Nigeria in 1958, that means we have been effectively in oil production for over 60 years.
“When we started production activities in Nigeria, Nigerians were complete spectators and we were not part of the production activities. Every position was occupied by expatriates, our communities were just onlookers to their activities.
“But since then, there is a lot of capacity development in Nigeria, and today we can tell you that a significant percentage of Nigeria’s crude is being produced by Nigerian companies. Also the Nigerian involvement even in the International Oil Companies (IOCs) has increased to the extent that some of the IOCs now have Nigerians as their managing directors in the Nigeria subsidiary”, the minister recalled.
This is even as he explained that Nigeria was now in a position to enlighten her oil producing neighbouring countries, including Senegal, on some of the past experiences, with a view to guiding them on best oil exploration and production standards
According to him, some of the benefits of crude oil production remained in its ability to ensure that the wealth that is produced is also domiciled in the country, stressing that this is one of the primary objectives of the Nigerian Content Development Monitoring Board (NCDMB).
The minister said: “So far, we have grown local participation in our industry from just 3 per cent in the last 10 years to 43 per cent, and our target is to grow that local participation to 70 per cent in 2027. And we are committed to that because it is the best way to domicile the benefits of oil.”
He promised Nigeria’s support for Senegal in the country’s drive towards exploring the opportunities in the energy sector to achieve sustainable development.
Sylva advised the Senegalese Minister on the need for her country to join the African Petroleum Producers Organisation (APPO) in order to enjoy other oil-producing countries’ support.
In her remarks, the Senegalese minister said that the delegation was in Nigeria to build synergy with Nigeria for the improved development of the oil and gas industry in the African continent.
Specifically, Gladima said her country would like to get Nigeria’s support in four areas, namely security management in the oil and gas sector, national oil company organisation, local content regulation and state-owned oil company’s strategies.
Also, the minister expressed interest in learning the secrets of oil and gas trade to enable her understand how Nigeria has been able to build local content in her hydrocarbon resources industry over the years.
