The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB)
has assured that patronage and deployment of indigenous oil and gas service
companies would remain of strategic importance to take advantage of the massive
development of operational capabilities since the implementation of the
Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act over the years.
Speaking in Port Harcourt, Rivers State at the load-out
ceremony of OML 100 skidded ejector package, fabricated and assembled by an
indigenous company, Wilkriss Nigeria Limited for residual gas recovery, the
Director, Monitoring and Evaluation at the NCDMB, Abdulmalik Halilu expressed
the Board’s excitement to see companies make significant breakthroughs in the
fabrication space.
He commended TotalEnergies and its Joint Venture (JV)
partners, sponsors of the project for providing an opportunity for capacity
utilisation by an indigenous company, just as he lauded Wilkriss Limited for
the top-notch quality in project execution.
According to the NCDMB Director, the project was significant
in two respects. “First is the output, which is the skid itself, being able to
deliver the right quality on schedule.” He pointed to metrics he had observed,
which he described as quite good, noting that it is very positive for
Monitoring and Evaluation. The other leg, he explained, is “where we try to
evaluate the outcomes in terms of jobs created on the back of this project”.
“We will be interested in all those metrics, we want to see
the manhours covered, the skills developed, probably new capabilities–some of
the equipment that you didn’t have before but because of the opportunity that
TotalEnergies has provided, you’re able to acquire them.” He advised the
company to update its profile on NCDMB’s Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content
Joint Qualification System (NOGIC-JQS) platform as soon as possible “to show
that this is additional capability that you have acquired”, Halilu
expressed.
He also urged the management of Wilkriss to sustain the
quality assurance attainments already made as evidenced by “all the ISO
certifications from HSE to Environment and to Quality Management,” as the
company moves to its new site “because that is what counts when we talk about
technical evaluation.”
Halilu revealed that “NCDMB has conducted a baseline census
in fabrication yards and we’ve seen a major trend in terms of burst and boom
era, in terms of capacity utilisation. So we try as much as possible to give
premium attention to fabrication yards to ensure that there’s a healthy
pipeline of opportunities for them to sustain the operations of the yards”.
On the wider significance of the Wilkriss breakthrough with
the Skided Ejector Package for the oil and gas industry, he explained: “We know
Nigeria has signed on to net zero carbon emission by 2060…. So this project
which seeks to reduce gas flaring - ultimately that means carbon emission - is
part of the global momentum we have today around decarbonisation and net zero”.
The other bit that is of interest, according to him, is “the
fact that the Skided Ejector Package helps with the Nigerian Liquefied Natural
Gas feedstock. Being able to unlock availability of feedstock is very
important. It’s no point completing Train-7 of the NLNG and everybody is struggling
with supply of feedstock.”
In his concluding remarks he urged the company to think of
how staff who worked on such a sophisticated project would remain engaged in
operations in the industry so the knowledge is retained and improved upon, just
as the company itself must strive to build capacities as new technologies
emerge.
An Executive Director of Wilkriss, Engr. Naaba Umahi, thanked
the NCDMB boss and management for honouring the invitation to the Load-out
Ceremony, which he said marked a major milestone not only for the company but
the industry and the country, given that a project of such magnitude could be
executed in-country with a workforce, which included 6-G-certified welders, that
was 100 per cent Nigerian.
While commending TotalEnergies for being “very supportive” at
all stages of the project, he said both companies “were able to agree on materials
that could be procured locally.” On the scope of work carried out, he pointed
out that it was from steel cutting to completion, adding there was no rework at
any stage. Functionality tests, pressure tests, and related activities were all
handled by company staff, without a hitch.
Among challenges Wilkriss faced initially was the review of
project design, an undertaking and experience he said were rewarding as they
brought out the best in their engineers, yielding what turned out to be process
improvement.
Engr. Umahi, who doubles as Deputy Managing Director of
Wilkriss, assured the NCDMB that the company would strive to build capacities
for new technologies on a continuous basis.
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