By Udeme Akpan

THE $1.1 billion Oil Mining License, OML, 17, deal, undertaken by TNOG Oil and Gas Limited, a related company of Heirs Holdings and Transcorp will enhance Local content development in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.

In an interview with British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC, monitored by Vanguard, Mr. Bismarck Rewane, an economist, said: “Actually, this is an optimization of assets by the multinationals. There are different types of assets in Nigeria. There are the land and swamp, offshore and deep-water. In the offshore and deep water, the water close to the multinationals is much higher than that on the land and swamp. Besides, land and swamp are also full of risk because of the restlessness and activities of the militants.

“So, what happened is that there is a rationalization of the asset because of oil price dropping and, also, it meets the important objective of getting local content. So, we have Heirs Holding, Tony Elumelu Foundation, and Transcorp, which are very reputable Nigerian investors, who have the resources, and they have actually paid for this. The total amount is $1.1 billion.”

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According to him: “This is a good move for investors, for the government and for the multinationals. It is good news for Nigeria that Nigerians are raising the money and have the confidence to take the challenge.”

He said: “First and foremost, the profits are retained by Nigerians, so that helps. It serves the objective of economic patriotism on one hand, but also helps to create employment and transfer of technology and management skills. And that is why you select the Nigerian partners you want, those that have the capacity, and Heirs Holdings have shown this.”

He added: “They are better at dealing with it because Heirs Holdings belong to the people who are from the Niger Delta themselves.”

Previously, Chief Financial Officer, TNOG, Samuel Nwanze, had said the OML 17 has about 1.2 billion barrels of oil equivalent, an additional 1 billion exploration opportunities, as well as 2.2 trillion cubic feet of gas, which exploitation would impact on stakeholders.

Vanguard News Nigeria