In A significant boost to local content in the oil and gas industry, Shell Companies in Nigeria have awarded contracts worth $1.98 billion to indigenous companies in 2023. This represents a three percent increase from the $1.92 billion recorded in 2022.
According to Ron Adams, Managing Director of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited (SNEPCo), the contracts were awarded by Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC), SNEPCo, and Shell Nigeria Gas (SNG) as part of efforts to enhance local content in the industry.
Speaking at the 13th edition of the Practical Nigerian Content forum in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, Adams said: “Shell companies execute a large proportion of their activities through contracts with third parties, and Nigeria-registered companies have been key beneficiaries of this policy aimed at powering Nigeria’s progress.”
Adams, who was represented by Business Opportunity Manager for SNEPCo’s Bonga South-West Aparo Project Olaposi Fadahunsi, disclosed that several benefitting companies had taken advantage of the patronage to expand their operations and improve their expertise and financial strength.
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He added: “As we speak, beneficiaries of the 13th edition of the Niger Delta Post Graduate Scholarship awards are pursuing their studies in the United Kingdom. The employability rate of the scheme is high with over 98% of the graduates who won the awards securing employment in the oil and gas industry, academia and Information Technology, among other sectors, within one year of completing their studies.”
In his keynote address, Heineken Lokpobiri, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (oil), emphasized that Nigeria will continue to produce fossil fuels despite pressure on African nations due to energy transition.
Lokpobiri said: “All the nations that say we should stop the production of fossil fuel, we will never stop the production in Nigeria; no country in the world will stop it… Those who are telling us to stop are themselves not stopping, so we should know that it is about politics.”
He challenged the industry to increase production, saying: “Africa already has enough market, we can produce enough fuel to supply the West African region and the entire Africa, but our biggest challenge has to do with funding.”
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) also disclosed that it has deepened its operations through strategic restructuring of critical business areas, including the creation of new business opportunities and enhancement of existing ones.