Oil & Energy

Egina, Pushing Nigerian Content Frontier

Published

8 years ago

July 16, 2018

This is the concluding part of a keynote address by the Deputy Managing Director, Deep Water, Total Upstream Companies in Nigeria, Mr. Ahmadu-Kida Musa, at the Nigeria Oil And Gas Conference and Exhibition (NOG) 2018, held at ICC, Abuja, July 2, 2018
Egina Project It was against the back drop of this new approach to Nigerian Content that Total took the Final Investment Decision to develop Egina in 2013, three years after the Nigerian Oil & Gas Industry Content Development Act became law. The result is that Egina became a test case for the NOGICD Act.
Egina is the latest of Total’s deep-water developments and the third project of its kind developed by Total in Nigeria, after Akpo and Usan. These projects have brought progressive increase in levels of Nigerian Content and this is well illustrated by the percentage of total project workload performed in Nigeria: from 44% for Usan, Total recorded 60% for Akpo and now 77% will be achieved for Egina just before the FPSO sails away from the SHI-MCI Yard in LADOL Island, Lagos where it is currently moored for topsides integration works.
In the coming weeks, the FPSO will sail away to Egina field, which is located in OML130, approximately 150 kilometres offshore Port Harcourt. It is the deepest offshore development carried out so far in Nigeria, in water depths of over 1,500 meters and the project is designed to produce 200,000 barrels per day of oil at plateau. In addition to the oil, the Egina field will produce gas.
Associated gas will be partly re-injected into the reservoir to maintain reservoir pressure and partly channelled to supply the domestic gas market.
Nigeria is proud that Egina has advanced Nigerian Content to new levels in many domains and I’ll mention a few of them.
Firstly, Project management: For Egina, all the Project Management teams, for both Total and the main EPC Contractors, have been based in Lagos – a first for a Nigerian FPSO project. The location of these teams in Nigeria to carry out engineering and procurement activities has generated significant employment opportunities at various skill levels ranging from office administrative staff to top level engineers and managers.
The Detailed Engineering of the Egina FPSO Topsides was executed in-country by Samsung with a consortium of Nigerian engineering companies (NETCO, DeltaAfrik and IESL), employing about 250 Nigerian engineers. Similarly, the Detailed Engineering for all the other work packages was executed in Nigeria, in association with local engineering companies like DeltaTek and Crestech.
Egina also created employment in Nigeria during the construction phase. It generated 24 direct million man-hours (77% of total project workload), which is over 3,000 persons on average during five years.
Significant training hours were also recorded on the project. The objective set with NCDMB was to train 200 engineers and technicians and Egina surpassed these targets recording over 560, 000 man-hours of human capacity development training across Egina contracts.
The project led the development of Infrastructure. A new fabrication and Integration yard has been built and it is Africa’s first FPSO integration quay. It was constructed under the FPSO package contract by SHI-MCI, within Lagos Deep Offshore Logistics Base on LADOL Island.
Today, the Egina project is proudly the first to record the fabrication and integration of FPSO topsides in Nigeria. Six of the 18 topside modules were fabricated and integrated at the SHI-MCI facility at LADOL. The Egina FPSO arrived from Korea in the last week of January for the integration of the locally fabricated modules and this integration was successfully completed in May without incident.
In addition to the new SHI-MCI integration quay,several existing yards and manufacturing sites in other parts of Nigeria were upgraded for the fabrication of various components of the Egina project in Port-Harcourt, Onne and Lagos.
Subsea Production Manifold Fabrication in Nigeria. Six numbers complex 263 metric tonnes production manifolds having six slots were done in AVEON yard.
Xmas Trees Assembly and Testing at TFMCOnne yard. For the first time, all Xmas trees were fully assembled and tested in Nigeria for a deep offshore project of this magnitude.
Buoy Fabrication and Launching. The Egina Loading buoy was fabricated in Port-Harcourt in the same yard as the Manifolds.
Overall, an impressive 60,000 tons of equipment were fabricated in Nigeria and this represents 35% of fabrication for the entire project.
This leads me to the last and final part of my address.
The Next Frontier
On Tuesday, February 13, 2018, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu and the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Monitoring & Development Board, Engr. SimbiWabote visited the Egina FPSO on LADOL Island.
After a tour of the unit, Engr. Wabote threw a challenge at the Industry by announcing that Total with Egina Project has set the bar for others and the next target “is to stretch the limit to get more for Nigeria. Our aspiration is that come the next seven to eight years, full integration of an FPSO must happen in Nigeria.”
This remark offers a very clear ‘hint’ as to which direction the Nigerian Oil & Gas Industry should be looking as we move past Egina. On Egina, six out of the 18 topside modules of the FPSO were fabricated in Nigeria, lifted in Nigeria and fully integrated in Nigeria.
Assembly of the Integrated Control and Safety System of the FPSO will be fully performed in-country. If this pace is sustained for the next eight years and with the right policies and investor-friendly legislation, I don’t see why the prophecy of the Executive Secretary wouldn’t come true!
With several large deep-water discoveries still to be developed, such as Bonga South West or Owowo, we know that the resources are there. All the yards that have been involved in the development of the Egina project need activity to maintain their infrastructure and the improved competency levels of their human capital.
Both government and the Industry have a critical role to play here. In the past three years, to keep the industry alive, all the operators have been focusing on reducing the cost of new deep-water projects in order to make sure that they can sanction projects and bring value at $50 per barrel.
While the operators are all trying to tighten their belt in line with the realities of the times, it is important that we put in place sustainable PSC and Gas terms as this is a fundamental requirement for continued investment in Nigeria’s deep offshore. And the development of new projects is critical to maintaining industry capacities.
As the industry moves even further offshore, the need for this know-how cannot be over-emphasised. Nigeria must move up to a level where it is able to meet the competency needs of other new entrants within the Africa sub-region and be considered as a technological hub for the region.
Nigerian Content in the Nigerian Oil & Gas Industry, through careful legislation and government policies could also have great impact in other sectors of the economy, including: information & communication technology/telecommunication agriculture, engineering and construction, manufacturing, transport and storage, power and finance, etc.
The next frontier is very broad and filled with opportunities. But it is also lined with a lot of challenges that Total believe are surmountable. Let’s take the bold steps and decisions that we all require to move into the next phase.
Again, a slogan we have always used, “Its always impossible until it is made possible”. Nigerian Content (NC) is possible.

Oil & Energy

Take Concrete Action To Boost Oil Production, FG Tells IOCs

Published

7 hours ago

February 9, 2026

The Tide

The Federal Government has called on urged International Oil Companies (IOCs) operating in Nigeria to take concrete steps to ramp up crude oil production, following the country’s ambitious target of reaching 2.5 million barrels per day by 2027.

Speaking at the close of a panel session at the just concluded 2026 Nigerian International Energy Summit, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, said the government had created an enabling environment for oil companies to operate effectively.

Lokpobiri stressed that the performance of the petroleum industry is fundamentally tied to the success of upstream operators, noting that the Nigerian economy remains largely dependent on foreign exchange earnings from the sector.

According to him, “I have always maintained that the success of the oil and gas industry is largely dependent on the success of the upstream. From upstream to midstream and downstream, everything is connected. If we do not produce crude oil, there will be nothing to refine and nothing to distribute. Therefore, the success of the petroleum sector begins with the success of the upstream.

“I am also happy with the team I have had the privilege to work with, a community of committed professionals. From the government’s standpoint, it is important to state clearly that there is no discrimination between indigenous producers and other operators.

“You are all companies operating in the same Nigerian space, under the same law. The Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) does not differentiate between local and foreign companies. While you may operate at different scales, you are governed by the same regulations. Our expectation, therefore, is that we will continue to work together, collaborate, and strengthen the upstream sector for the benefit of all Nigerians.”

The minister pledged the federal government’s continued efforts to sustain its support for the industry through reforms, tax incentives and regulatory adjustments aimed at unlocking the sector’s full potential.

“We have provided extensive incentives to unlock the sector’s potential through reforms, tax reliefs and regulatory changes. The question now is: what will you do in return? The government has given a lot.

Now is the time for industry players to reciprocate by investing, producing and delivering results,” he said.

Lokpobiri added that Nigeria’s success in the upstream sector would have positive spillover effects across Africa, while failure would negatively impact the continent’s midstream and downstream segments.

“We have talked enough. This is the time to take concrete actions that will deliver measurable results and transform this industry,” he stated.

It would be noted that Nigeria’s daily average oil production stood at about 1.6 million barrels per day in 2025, a significant shortfall from the budget benchmark of 2.06 million barrels per day.

Oil & Energy

Host Comm.Development: NUPRC Commits To Enforce PIA 2021

Published

7 hours ago

February 9, 2026

The Tide

The Chief Executive of the Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Mrs. Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, has restated the commission’s commitment to ensuring oil companies comply with the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021 to promote sustainable development in host communities.

Eyesan made the remark at a Sensitization Programme in Owerri, Imo State, explained that the PIA 2021 mandates oil companies to contribute 3% of their annual operating costs to Host Communities Development Trusts (HCDTs) for community development projects.

Represented by Atama Daniel, Eyeso said “The funds will be used for education, healthcare, infrastructure, and economic empowerment”.

Eyesan assured that the commission would facilitate a smooth implementation process and ensure compliance by oil companies.

She, however, urged oil-producing communities to protect oil facilities in their areas as well as stop all illegal oil exploration activities within their communities.

The chief executive also disclosed that NUPRC has established Alternative Dispute Resolution Centres to resolve disputes between oil companies and host communities.

Earlier, the National President, HOSTCOM, Dr. Benjamin Tamarenebi, advised the host communities to always embark on sustainable development projects rather than frivolous projects.

He warned traditional rulers against bidding for contracts for execution of projects approved for their communities in line with the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act.”

Tamarenebi noted that monarchs, as heads of Host Communities Board of Trustees, have the responsibility of supervising the awarding and execution of projects approved for the communities and ensuring accountability, adding that awarding contracts to themselves will lead to compromise.

He disclosed that funds disbursed to the communities are now higher than before and urged the communities to take good advantage of it.

“They can build schools and other sustainable projects and think of something that will always be a more economical variable in the community; if this is done there would be economic activities and development. In order not to waste the funds, manpower, train your children with the funds, give them scholarships instead of buying vehicles or renting apartments in the city”, he said.

In his remarks, the Deputy Executive Director, Environmental Defenders Network (EDEN), Johnson Abiye, urged regulators to ensure smooth implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act as it relates to the oil producing communities.

Abiye noted that many communities that were supposed to be part of HOSTCOM were omitted and called for the situation to be redressed.

Oil & Energy

PETROAN Cautions On Risks Of P’Harcourt Refinery Shutdown

Published

7 hours ago

February 9, 2026

The Tide

The Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association (PETROAN) has expressed fears of rust, corrosion, abandonment, lack of lubrication, and eventual destruction of installed equipment at the PortHarcourt Refinery due to continued Shutdown.

PETROAN said it would also result in rendering the entire revamp effort futile if urgent action is not taken.

The Public Relations Officer and Spokesperson of the Association, Dr. Joseph Obele, in a statement, noted that over $1.5 billion of public funds were reportedly expended on the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt Refinery, which was reopened in November 2024 and shut down again in May 2025 due to alleged financial losses.

Speaking on the sidelines of the recent remarks credited to the Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Limited, Engr. Bayo Ojulari, in which he described the re-operationalisation of the Port Harcourt Refinery and Petrochemical Company as a ‘waste of resources’ and admitted that NNPC lacks the capacity to operate refineries profitably, Obele expressed disappointment, describing the statement as troubling, demoralising, and deeply disturbing, and raising fundamental questions about institutional responsibility, governance, and the stewardship of public resources.

With the huge funds already spent on the rehabilitation process, Obele stated

therefore, that for the GCEO of NNPC to dismiss the entire exercise as a waste of resources, without clear attribution of responsibility, performance audits, or accountability measures, is unacceptable to Nigerians.

“If NNPC truly lacks the capacity to run refineries profitably, as admitted by its own GCEO, then Nigerians deserve to know who advised the investment, who supervised the rehabilitation, who certified the restart, and who benefited from the contracts and operations.

“Public institutions cannot casually dismiss a multi-billion-dollar national asset as a mistake without consequences”, he said.

The PETROAN spokesperson also faulted the narrative by Ojulari that Nigerians should be “thankful” solely because of the success of the Dangote Refinery.

While acknowledging the strategic importance and commendable achievement of the privately owned refinery, he stressed that private investments cannot replace the constitutional and economic obligation of government to efficiently manage public assets.

“Dangote Refinery is a private investment driven by profit and efficiency. NNPC, on the other hand, holds national assets in trust for Nigerians. One cannot be used as an excuse for the failure of the other,” Dr. Obele emphasized.

The energy expert further warned that repeated public admissions of incompetence by NNPC leadership risk eroding investor confidence, weakening Nigeria’s energy security framework, and undermining years of policy efforts aimed at domestic refining, price stability, and job creation.

He described as most worrisome the assertion that there is no urgency to restart the Port Harcourt Refinery because the Dangote Refinery is currently meeting Nigeria’s petroleum needs.

“Such a statement is annoying, unacceptable, and indicative of leadership that is not solution-centric,” he said.

The PETROAN National PRO reiterated that Nigeria cannot continue to normalise waste, institutional failure, and retrospective justification of poor decisions stressing that admitting failure is only meaningful when followed by accountability, reforms, and a clear, credible plan to prevent recurrence.

By: Lady Godknows Ogbulu