Minister Decries Modus Operandi Of IOCs In Nigeria

The Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke, has expressed concerns over the model of multinationals in the past decades of operation in Nigeria where business worth several hundreds of dollars is done without appreciable footprints in the country.

Alison-Madueke, in a keynote address at a one-day conference organised by the National Association of Energy Correspondents (NAEC) in Lagos recently explained that the trend has been to look to foreign countries for procurement of equipment, spares and technology in support of their operations in the country and the Gulf of Guinea region.

Her words: “The major operators have not helped matters by reliance on the importation of goods and services from abroad without making provisions to develop sustainable capabilities within Nigeria, that would support life cycle operations in Nigeria. Instead more emphasis has been placed on speedy achievement of first oil, generation of revenue without paying attention to actions  that add value to the economy.”

According to her, the cumulative effect of operating this model for so long is that an industry that currently spends an average sum of 20 billion US dollars per annum, less than 2 billion dollars is retained in the National economy, stressing that over 300 billion US Dollars has been lost to capital flight.

She noted that more significant is the fact that the persistent practice has resulted in the export of millions of employment opportunities, opportunities  for training, knowledge and technology transfer, opportunities for investment in facilities and infrastructure to support industry operations within Nigeria and denied indigenes the opportunity to participate in the most critical aspect of their national development activity.

The Petroleum Minister therefore reasoned that the challenge before government is to create an enabling environment that allows capital to flow inward and get retained for economic growth and development.

She however assured that government has taken firm steps to address these concerns in a structured and sustainable manner and listed the steps taken in the oil and gas sector to create the required environment to support government transformation aspirations.

Some of the steps she listed include the Nigerian content Act, Nigerian Oil and Gas Employment Training and Tracking System (NOGETTS), Upgrade of existing yards and development of new Shipyards and fabyards.

Other steps are indigenous ownership of marine vessels, expatriate quota utilisation and management strategy, Equipment and Component Manufacturing Initiative and Nigerian Content Development Fund (NCDF).

Vivian–Peace Nwinaene