NCDMB targets US$3.7bn investments in commercial partnerships

The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) said on Tuesday that it had committed a total of US$332million under its commercial ventures partnership programme with a view to attracting project developments in-country valued at US$3.7bn.

The Executive Secretary, Engr. Simbi Kesiye Wabote revealed this at the bi-annual Nigerian Oil & Gas Opportunity Fair (NOGOF) 2021 which is being held virtually for the first time.

Some of the partnerships undertaken by the Board include the 5,000 barrels per day Waltersmith Modular Refinery at Ibigwe, Imo State and NEDO Gas Processing Company in Kwale, Delta State for the establishment of 80million standard cubic feet per day (MMscfd) gas processing plant and a 300MMscfd Kwale Gas Gathering hub.

Other investments include the development of 5,000 metric tons LPG Storage and loading terminal facility by Triansel Gas Limited in Koko, Delta State and construction of Energy Park, inclusive of a modular refinery, power plant and 40MMscfd gas processing facility at Egbokor, Edo State byDuport Midstream.

The Board also partnered Brass Fertiliser for the development of a 10,000MT/day Methanol Plant and 500MMscfd gas processing plant at Odiama in Brass as well as with Rungas Group for the manufacturing of 1.2million composite LPG cylinders annually in Bayelsa and Lagos States and with Butane Energy to deepen LPG utilization in the North with the roll-out of LPG bottling plants and depots in Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, Bauchi, Nassarawa, Zamfara, Niger, Plateau, Gombe, Jigawa states and Abuja.

The Executive Secretary confirmed that some of the Board’s partnerships would be completed and commissioned within the next two years, notably a modular refinery in Edo and Bayelsa State.

He added: “We shall complete and commission composite LPG cylinder manufacturing plants with combined capacity of 1.2million cylinders per annum.We shall commission three other projects dedicated to gas processing, LPG bottling, and production of base oil. We shall also commission and commence operations from our industrial parks at Odukpani and Emeyal-1 and we shall commercialize at least one R&D project and close skills gaps in under-water welding and any other core skill required in the industry.”

Wabote hinted that the roll-out of new policies and enactment of laws open new vista of opportunities for discerning investors. According to him, the declaration of a Decade of Gas by President Muhammadu Buhari, the impending passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill, the amendment of the NOGICD Act, the ratification of the AfCFTA agreement and the recently approved and gazetted Ministerial Regulations are some of the policy and regulatory-driven opportunities in the coming years.

In his goodwill message, the pioneer Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Engr. Ernest Nwapa remarked that the oil and gas industry had experienced remarkable and sustainable growth in the last 15 years through local content and no other sector in the Nigerian economy had recorded comparable development.

The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Mele Kolo Kyari spoke at the event and expressed the corporation’s willingness to partner with potential investors towards value creation and a fair share of Return on Investment (RoI) in the exploration of frontier basins, development of upstream gas fields and financing of greenfield/brownfield additional production on de-risked assets.

He also confirmed that opportunities abound in Gas & Power infrastructure development, expanding Gas Pipeline networks, development of Gas-based industries as well as the Integrated Power Plants.

Other areas of opportunities he said, include the rehabilitation of existing refineries, construction of greenfield condensate refineries as well as in the downstream sector especially in LPG and CNG plants across the country, pipelines and storage tank construction as well as developing Shipping Capacity.