Shell restates commitment to Nigerian Content development
BY YEMIE ADEOYE & OSCARLINE ONUWUEMENYI
ABUJA – Multinational oil and gas company, Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC, Nigeria Limited, has stated that it is committed to the full realization of the Nigerian Content Act, adding that the company and its subsidiaries had invested over $693 million over the past year alone to drive the process.
The Country Chair, Shell Companies in Nigeria and Managing Director of SPDC, Mr. Mutiu Sunmonu, who disclosed this in an address at the commemoration of the first anniversary of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Content Development Act, in Abuja, however, noted that the company was facing a challenge with the high targets set by the Nigerian Oil and Gas Content Development Act due to limited in-country capacity and fiscal regimes.
Sunmonu noted that Shell companies in Nigeria have actively been supporting local companies and recognized the need for local content development “even before the phrase became a concept.”
According to him, “SPDC indeed played a pioneering role in the development of both local businesses and human capital. Our drive is not only motivated by the need to support the aspirations of the Federal government.
“The simple fact is that transferring skills and technology to Nigerians is an integral part of what Shell companies in Nigeria do. Why? Because it makes good business sense for us. By developing a skilled Nigerian workforce, we lower costs over the long term while contributing to a more prosperous Nigeria, which is good for the country and good for business.”
He noted that Bonga, Nigeria’s first offshore deep-water operated by one of Shell’s subsidiaries, SNEPCo, was an example, adding that the operation helped create the country’s first generation of engineers with deep-water experience.
“It is important to note that there are only a handful of locations around the world with expertise in this technically challenging environment,” Sunmonu observed.
He added that, “In 2010 alone, we awarded contracts worth nearly $693 million dollars to Nigerian companies. This represented more than 93 percent of the overall number of contracts and amounted to over 94 percent of the total amount we spent on contracts.”
He noted that even more important than awarding contracts, Shell companies believe that wholeheartedly that training is fundamental to sustaining Nigerian content development, adding that by December, 2010, the companies had trained about 1900 service providers in general contracting processes as well as developing eight local dredging companies.
The group, he stressed, has awarded ten post-graduate scholarships to three top universities in the United Kingdom and has sponsored research programmes in five Nigerian universities for core technical skills in geosciences including offering sabbaticals and students internships at their offices in Port Harcourt to introduce new concepts in underground evaluation techniques and in use of latest technologies.
Sunmonu pointed out that SPDC and SNEPCo also collaborated with the United Kingdom Trade and Investment group to organize a trade mission in London during which over 20 Niger Delta vendors met with 150 British companies in an effort to help foster partnerships, adding that to date, ten partnerships have emerged from the effort. He said the group was willing to do more, but noted that there were challenges with high targets set in the Nigerian Content Development Act with regards to the limited in-country capacity and fiscal regimes.
“It is our hope that the Federal government will release the appropriate regulations that would guide the full implementation of the requirements of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Content Development Act,” he said.
