Federal Government and its joint venture partners spend an average of $12 billion annually on goods and services in the country�s oil and gas industry. This was made known on Thursday, being the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Day at the on-going Lagos International Trade Fair.
Group General Manager, Nigerian Content Division of NNPC, Joseph Akande, who represented the NNPC Group Managing Director, Funsho Kupolokun at the Fair, stated that the country�s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth was sub-optimal, while the local content policy in the last two years recorded marginal improvement by 15 per cent.
Akande said local content in the oil and gas industry had grown to about 33 per cent as a result of the deliberate effort of NNPC, stressing that since inception of the oil and gas operations in the country, there has not been any deliberate practice to domesticate services in the country. He said apart from Federal Government�s recent directive that front End Engineering and Design (FEED) as well as detailed engineering design for all projects be domiciled in Nigeria, government has also mandated that all project managements and procurement centres for the oil and gas industry must be located in the country.
Akande also said government has ordered that all operations and project promoters must forecast procurement items required for projects and operational activities and forward the material list to the Nigerian Content Division of NNPC before January 31 of each year.
Besides, a Master Procurement Plan (MPP) for ongoing and approved projects, should be submitted to the Nigerian Content Division of NNPC before January 31 every year. Fabrication and integration of all fixed for onshore and offshore platforms weighing up to 10,000 tons, Akande stated, would equally be carried out in Nigeria, while the fixed platforms for onshore and offshore, which are greater than 10,000 tons, especially the pressure vessels and integration of the topside modules, among others, would equally be carried out in the country.