NCDMB, Total commend EWT on completion of Egina OLT Piles

The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Total Upstream Nigerian, Saipem Contracting and other stakeholders of the oil and gas industry have commended Energy Works Technology (EWT), a subsidiary of the Obijackson Group on the completion of the fabrication of nine Oil Loading Terminal (OLT) buoy anchor mooring piles for the Egina field development.

Speaking on Tuesday at the load-out and sail-away ceremony at Nestoil Industrial Area, Abuloma, Port Harcourt, the Executive Secretary, NCDMB, Engr. Simbi Wabote hailed the performance of Nigerian service companies on different scopes of the Egina Deepwater project, noting that they demonstrated capacity growth on the back of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act enacted in 2010.

He stated that Egina was the first major project to start under the Nigerian Content Act and the

the Board’s strategy ensured the utilization of existing in-country capacity, upgrade of facilities to meet the targets specified in the Nigerian Content Act and Capacity Development Initiatives (CDIs) where local capacities did not exist.

Speaking further, the Executive Secretary assured that the CDIs would bring down the cost of future projects, stressing that the Nigerian Agip Oil Company’s “Zabazaba and Etan Deepwater Project must not only utilize capacities and facilities developed on past projects but also exceed the Nigerian Content performance achieved on Egina.”

He also commended Total Upstream and Saipem Contracting for their Nigerian Content credentials on the Egina Project and for supporting EWT to deliver on the OLT project, charging other international operating companies and Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Installation (EPCI) contractors to emulate the feat.

Wabote also praised the Obijackson Group, recalling that the company started to build capacity over 20 years ago. “They took serious investment risks and we now have a manifestation of that focus, tenacity and belief in the development of the Niger Delta. They believed that this is where the activities are and put this massive structure here, employing about 2,500 persons, even more than most multinationals you know about in Nigeria.”

Earlier in his speech, the Group Managing Director of the Obijackson Group, Dr. Ernest Azudialu-Obiejesi affirmed that Local Content Act was a success because Nigerian companies, technicians and engineers have acquired expertise and built capacity that has increased indigenous participation in the Nigerian Oil and Gas sector. He said that “with the Local Content Act, we have made significant progress as a nation and assumed a position of dignity amongst International Oil Companies (IOCs) and other players in the sector, who are the beneficiaries of our first-rate services. EWT took advantage of the opportunity created by the Local Content Act to nurture our skills to the point we are today.”

The Group Chief Operating Officer, EWT, Mr. Gabriel Oramasionwu also stated that the company expended 400,000 man-hours on the project with zero loss time injury. “This is actually local content in action because every single thing that was done here was done in Nigeria by Nigerian experts with diverse experience. More than 98 per cent of the resources used here are all local content,” he said.

He informed that the project required investments and infrastructural enhancements at the company’s facilities like the dredging of the Abrutu River channel to the Bonny River, producing a uniform draft of 5 meters to enable a smooth sail-away of the fabricated structures as well as the strengthening the jetty to bear 3000 Tons of load.

Also speaking at the event, General Manager, Egina Project Control, Partners and Authorities, Mr. Felix Akan informed that the Egina field when completed will add 200,000 barrels of crude oil per day to the national production by 2018.

He underscored Total’s pride that the project had the highest level of Nigerian Content of any oil and gas project to date, noting that the project management team and all the main contractors’ offices are based in Nigeria. “About 94 percent of the project’s Basic Engineering was performed in Nigeria by Nigerian companies. Detailed engineering represented about 85 percent of engineering man-hours spent in Nigeria. The project’s in-country fabrication activities represent about 60,000 tons of equipment,” he added.

Chairman of the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN) Mr. Bank-Anthony Okoroafor in his comments described the feat by EWT as a confirmation that indigenous companies can handle complex projects. He canvassed for continual patronage of proven Nigerian companies and provision of new jobs to sustain developed capacities.