Nigeria Liquefied and Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited has stated that it is committed to going above and above the requirements of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act (NOGICD) 2010 to ensure that Nigerians receive the maximum benefits from all of its operations.
The assurance was given by Dr. Philip Mshelbila, managing director and chief executive officer of NLNG, while leading a delegation on a courtesy visit to Simbi Wabote, the executive secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), at the regulator's headquarters in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
In keeping with its corporate mission of becoming "a globally competitive LNG firm working to build a better Nigeria," Mshelbila stated that NLNG believed Nigerian Content to be an essential component of its strategy. He praised the NCDMB for the productive and long-standing partnership between the regulator and the business, emphasising the production of shared value. He used the special Service Level Agreement (SLA) between NLNG and the NCDMB as an illustration of how the Board supports commerce.
Additionally, he thanked the board for helping the Train 7 project launch smoothly and for the seven million safe man hours it just achieved without a Lost-Time Injury event.
Mshelbila emphasised that, in the context of the global energy transition, the support of regulators like the NCDMB would be crucial in ensuring access to, availability of, and affordability of energy for domestic consumption. She noted that NLNG had remained committed to supplying all of its liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) volumes entirely domestically. He suggested creating an NLNG-NCDMB Technical Working Group that would convene on a regular basis to talk about and resolve such strategic and other operational challenges.
In response, Wabote complimented the NLNG for the smooth leadership transfer while upholding national pride in being led by a senior management team made up entirely of Nigerians.
He assured that the regulator would continue to work with NLNG to deliver on its Nigerian Content commitments in its Train 7 Project to positively impact local manufacturing capacity and employment levels in the country. He encouraged the company to begin preparations for Train 8 and also endorsed the idea of an exchange programme of staff between both organizations to deepen knowledge of each other’s inner workings for better partnership and business efficiency.
Wabote said the Board would continue to adhere to its Business-to-Business Service Level Agreement (SLA), as it remained the first in the industry and had set a standard for shortening the contracting cycle and improving compliance with the NOGICD Act. He encouraged NLNG to plug into ongoing efforts by NCDMB to widen LPG distribution and storage across multiple zones of the country.
NLNG is owned by four Shareholders, namely, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (49%), Shell Gas B.V (25.6per cent), TotalEnergies Gaz & Electricite Holdings (15per cent) and Eni International N.A. N. V. S.Ã r.l (10.4per cent).