By Oscarline Onwuemenyi

The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, NCDMD, has disclosed plans by the Federal Government to introduce an Expatriate Management Quota, EQM, to regulate the use of foreigners for jobs that could be performed by Nigerians in the oil and gas industry.

A statement from the Board, made available to our correspondent in Abuja, noted that the local content agency is seeking collaboration with other agencies on the programme, which is expected to be formally endorsed by the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke.

The idea for the EQM, the statement noted, is geared towards ensuring industry compliance with Section 33 of the NOGIC Act, as well as minimizing incidents of abuse and ensure optimal knowledge transfer to Nigerians from enforcement.

Meanwhile, a new partnership being forged by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, NCDMB, and the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, will ensure that compliance  the Act by operators and service companies will be a key condition for participating in bid rounds and securing licenses, permits and approvals in the industry.

The Management of the two agencies, who agreed to ensure this at a meeting in Lagos on Thursday, also set up a joint committee to design an interface model with regard to common mandates related to Nigerian content development in the industry.

Among other things, the committee will develop procedure for operationalizing sections 3 and 7 of the NOGIC Act, which provides that compliance with the provisions, promotion of Nigerian Content development and submission of Nigerian Content Plan will constitute conditions for the award of licenses, permits and any other project in the industry. DPR handles bid rounds and grants licenses and permits, which producing and service companies need to operate in the petroleum industry.

The committee is also to address the increasing incidence of staff disengagement by operators and design partnership model for critical information sharing between DPR and NCDMB, to facilitate effective regulation of the industry.

The meeting was led by the Director of DPR, Mr. OstenOlurunsola, and the Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Mr. Ernest Nwapa, with top management team of both agencies in attendance.