Members of the Indigenous Petroleum Producers Group (IPPG) have pledged to henceforth support and comply with the provisions of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act.
To cement their commitment, the local operating companies will sign a Service Level Agreement (SLA) with the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) and this will guide the submission and management of statutory reports between both parties.
The new SLA, akin to the type signed between the Board and the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas Company (NLNG) in May 2017, will commit members of the IPPG to compliance with the Nigerian Content Act while the Board will keep to a definite response time for reviews and approvals of contracting documentations.
The SLA will take into consideration the capacity of the indigenous producing companies and provide necessary concessions as may be necessary.
The resolutions were reached at a meeting between the Executive Secretary, NCDMB, Engr. Simbi Wabote and members of the IPPG in Lagos recently.
The independent producers also promised to partner the Board to equip the Petroleum Technology Development Fund’s Vocational Training facility in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, for the purposes of imparting key skills that are currently lacking in the industry.
Wabote explained at the meeting that indigenous producers were products of the Nigerian Content Policy hence they needed to work with the Board to take the implementation to the next level.
He stressed that Nigerian Content Act was not applicable to only foreign companies but to all players in the oil and gas industry. “Some Nigerian companies assume erroneously that being wholly indigenous makes them complaint. But Local Content extends to employment, procurement, training among other things,” he said.