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Oil & Energy

Another Look At The Nigerian Content Act

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The Nigerian Content Development Act was signed into law in
2010 to achieve the domestication of significant portion of derivatives of the
oil and gas industry by ensuring the development and deliberate use of
indigenous human and material resources in the industry in Nigeria. It is
targeted at the adding value to the nation’s economy through the systematic
development capacity and  capabilities by
using Nigerian human and material resources, and services in the industry.

The Act says Nigerian Independent Operators shall be given
first consideration in the award of oil blocks, oil licenses, oil lifting
licenses and all projects that have to do with oil blocks and oil licenses
particularly.

The intention of the Act therefore, is to build the Nigerian
Content by making it mandatory that some jobs in the industry are done in
country by Nigerians using Nigerian materials.

No doubt, the enactment of this Act ushered in a new era in
the oil and gas as prior to the Act, equipment used in the industry were
usually designed, fabricated and assembled abroad thus leading to capital
flight and export of jobs. There was a preponderance of expatriate workers
resulting to scarcity of jobs, paucity of skills  and capacity building and utilization of
Nigerian workforce, culminating to economic under-development in the country.

Agreed, the law gave local entrepreneurs like Niger Dock,
Ladol, Daewoo, Saipem, LoneStar, Adamac among others the confidence to venture
into areas that hitherto were the exclusive preserve of multinational
companies.

According to the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content
Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Engr. Ernest Nwapa represented by
Wole Akinyosoye the Act has to say the least opened a floodgate of acativities
in the industry which has resulted to a surge in indigenous capacity in the
industry.

Be that as it may, there still exist some gray areas that
need to be given some consideration. In terms of giving priority to indigenous
operators which the Act talked about, it is not explicit on the process which
the preferential treatment should be done.

For instance, on the list of 2012 to 2013 Crude Oil Contract
Holders, most of the companies have links with foreign owners while in some
cases an holder will be replicated but with different names.

There is also institutional problem as Nigerian National
Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) dominates contract allotment. So how and where
does the NCDMB come in, in terms of giving contracts.

Another gray area in the Act is the downstream Sector which
is the major concern of his piece. The downstream sector is not covered. Dr.
Eddie Wikina, while presenting a paper on “Promoting the Nigerian Content
through Deregulation of the Downstream Sector” at the just concluded Port
Harcourt International Oil and Gas Conference in Port Harcourt, noted that the
Act was restrictive as it does not cover the downstream sector of the
industry   Dr. Wikina who is the managing
director of Treasure Energy Resource limited, a Rivers State Government oil and
gas firm, argued that in terms of Upstream business in the industry as touching
expatriate quota and using Nigerian materials, the Act has faired well but
nothing in the downstream.

The scope of the Act which is restricted to the upstream
sector, according to the oil and gas guru include services from within Nigeria,
goods manufactured in Nigeria, training and employment of Nigerians, location
of project office in catchment area or community, tax incentives for local
manufacturing, all fabrication and welding activities, insurance, legal and
financial activities.

He explained that
anybody who wants to build a downstream plant that is capable of employing up
to 5000 people in the country can do it with 100 per cent foreign labour,
foreign materials, foreign services and nobody will raise an eyebrow because
there is no law that says they must use Nigerian materials and services.

He pointed out that the downstream which has to do with
among others processing that convert oil nad gas into useful products including
distillation, cracking, reforming, blending,
storage, mixing and shipping has some regulatory control issues.

Some of the regulatory control issues, the TERL boss pointed
out were monopoly, closed market, price manipulation, lack of innovation,
investment block, value erosion, inefficient operations, foreign import
dependent, smuggling inter alia.

He therefore, recommended the review of the Act to
explicitly cover the downstream sector as this will open more opportunities for
participation of local indigenous operators and service providers thus leading
to growth of the Nigerian Content Development.

For instance, the coordinator of the 6th Nigerian Dredging
Summit, Exhibition and Award, Mr. Edmund Chilaka quoted NCDMB as saying that
$20billion oil and gas projects in the country were owned by foreigners and
noted that out of this whooping sum, only a paltry sum of less than $4 billion
was retained in Nigeria.

His words: “An estimate of over 150 times more jobs are
created in other countries than in Nigeria when Nigerian projects are being
executed.

“Ownership profile of marine assets supporting industry
activities has a current ratio of about 230 foreign owned vessels to a pitiable
20 Nigerian owned.”

Scenarios like the one painted above could be changed by
making the Act to cover the downstream as advocated by Dr. Wikina.

The TERL MD also recommended a full deregulation of the
downstream which would see government releasing the control on product prices.
He said it will open the market for more investors to come into the sector and
the emergence of more production facilities. Countries like Peru, Argentina,
Pakistan, Chile, Philippines, Thailand, Mexico, Canada, Venezuela, Japan,
United States of America (USA) among others have undergone complete
deregulation leading to a turn around of their economies. Government’s roles in
these countries have been drastically reduced thus giving greater freedom for
operators in the industry to operate and thrive which create room for healthy
competition and naturally drive down costs.

He enjoined government to completely end control on the
sector to allow independent operators to come in and money saved from subsidy
could be reinvested in local industries or used to support those ready to build
independent processing plants. And to a great extent add the much desired value
to the nation’s economy.

Federal Governments, he suggested should make funds
affordable by making investors in the industry have access to low interest rate
loans as this would serve as encouragement for them to venture into the
industry.

Commenting on the
difficulty of accessing funds by indigenous players in the industry, the
managing director of Harrybeath International Services Limited, Engr Agha Abani
said “You see the Nigerian government has good intentions to build capacity but
the problem most Nigerian companies have is in funding; we still have problems
of getting the required funding from the Banks. In the Western world, it is
much easier for them to finance this kind of projects but here in Nigeria it is
very difficult to get funding from the banks. So this is an area that has to be
looked at.”

 

Vivian-Peace Nwinaene

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Oil & Energy

FG Inaugurates National Energy Master Plan Implementation Committee

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The Federal Government has inaugurated the National Energy Master Plan Implementation Committee (NEMiC), in a major step towards repositioning Nigeria’s energy sector.
Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Uche Nnaji, disclosed this in a Statement issued by the minister’s Senior Special Adviser, Robert Ngwu, in Abuja, at the Weekend.
According to the statement, the inauguration which marked the beginning of the full implementation phase of the National Energy Master Plan (NEMP), tasked the committee with the responsibility of spearheading the country’s transition to a cleaner, more inclusive and sustainable energy future.
Nnaji urged the committee to deliver real impact to households, industries, and communities nationwide.
“The National Energy Master plan is not just a document; it is a blueprint for transforming our energy landscape. NEMiC must fast-track the deployment of energy solutions that are reliable, affordable, and climate-friendly.
“The work you do will directly influence Nigeria’s economic growth, social progress, and environmental sustainability,” the minister said.
Nnaji expressed optimism that the committee would deliver on the assignment.
“The decisions and actions taken by this Committee will define Nigeria’s energy trajectory for decades to come.
“This is a responsibility of the highest order, and I am confident NEMiC has the capacity, the vision, and the commitment to rise to the occasion,” he said.
It would be noted that NEMP is a comprehensive framework designed to guide Nigeria’s energy diversification, strengthen energy security and align national development with global climate action goals.
Constituted on Oct. 17, 2024, by the Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN), NEMiC is tasked with mobilising funding and investing in renewable energy infrastructure.
It also has the responsibility of accelerating the deployment of technologies that expand access to reliable and affordable power.
The committee would oversee projects across solar, wind, hydro, biomass, and other emerging technologies while also advancing the operationalisation of the National Energy Fund, meant to channel resources into domestic energy efficiency and infrastructure projects.
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How Solar Canals Could Revolutionize the Water-Energy-Food Nexus

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Globally, demand for food, water, and energy is sharply on the rise. The World Economic Forum says that by 2050, food demand could increase by over 50%, energy by up to 19% and water by up to 30%. The increasing scarcity of these resources – and potential solutions to their sustainable management – are deeply interconnected, calling for integrated solutions.
“Disruption in one amplifies vulnerabilities and trade-offs in others,” wrote the World Economic Forum in a July report. “Such disruptions also create opportunities for sustainable growth, enhanced resilience and more equity.” The idea of synergistic nexus solutions is starting to pick up steam in both public and private sectors.
A new project in California, aptly named Project Nexus, aims to do just that. The novel project seeks to find synergies for water management and renewable energy production in some of the nation’s sunniest and most water-stressed agricultural lands by covering miles and miles of irrigation canals with solar panels, yielding multiple benefits for the water-energy-food nexus.
While the panels generate clean energy, they also shade the canals from the harsh desert sun, mitigating water loss to evaporation and discouraging the growth of aquatic weeds that can choke the waterways. Plus, the presence of the water acts as a built-in cooling system for the solar panels. The $20 million state-funded initiative could produce up to 1.6 megawatts of renewable energy “while producing a host of other benefits,” according to a report from SFGATE.
In addition to these benefits, placing solar panels on top of existing agricultural infrastructure could offer key benefits compared to standard solar farms. They are more easily and quickly greenlit, as they don’t face the same land-use conflicts that utility-scale solar farms are facing across the nation. Plus, “placing solar panels atop existing infrastructure doesn’t require altering the landscape, and the relatively small installations can be plugged into nearby distribution lines, avoiding the cumbersome process of connecting to the higher-voltage wires required for bigger undertakings,” reports Canary Media.
The result of Project Nexus and similar models appears to be a win-win for water, energy, and food, all while using less land. “The challenges of climate change are going to really force us to do more with a lot less … so this is just an example of the type of infrastructure that can make us more resilient,” says project scientist Brandi McKuin. While Project Nexus isn’t releasing figures on the project’s performance until they have a full year’s worth of data, McKuin says current analysis shows that the project is on track to meet its projected outputs.
Project Nexus is not the first project to place solar panels over canals, but it’s still among just a handful of such projects in the world. The United States’ first and only other solar canal project came online late last year in Arizona, where the project produces energy for the Pima and Maricopa tribes, collectively known as the Gila River Indian Community. While many large-scale renewable energy projects have run up against land-use issues with tribal lands, the Arizona project shows that the canal model can be an excellent alternative solution.
“Why disturb land that has sacred value when we could just put the solar panels over a canal and generate more efficient power?” David DeJong, director of the Pima-Maricopa Irrigation Project, was quoted by Grist. In keeping with the spirit of water-energy nexus solutions, the Project is currently developing a water delivery system for the water-stressed Gila River Indian Community.
Of course, these pilot projects produce a whole lot less energy than utility-scale solar farms. But research suggests that if the solar canal idea is scaled across the United States’ 8,000 miles of federally owned canals and aqueducts, it could have a significant impact. In 2023, a coalition of environmental groups calculated that installing panels on all that existing federal infrastructure could generate over 25 gigawatts of energy and potentially avoid tens of billions of gallons of water evaporation at the same time.
By Haley Zaremba
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Oil & Energy

Dangote Refinery Resumes Gantry Self-Collection Sales, Tuesday

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Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited has announced that it will resume self-collection gantry sales of petroleum products at its facility beginning tomorrow, Tuesday, September 23, 2025.

This is revealed in an email communication from the Group Commercial Operations Department of the company, and obtained by Newsmen, at the Weekend.

The decision marks a reversal of a directive issued earlier, which had suspended self-collection and compelled marketers to rely exclusively on the refinery’s Free Delivery Scheme.

The company explained that while gantry access is being reinstated, the free delivery service remains operational, with marketers encouraged to continue registering their outlets for direct supply at no additional cost.

The statement said “in reference to the earlier email communication on the suspension of the PMS self-collection gantry sales, please note that we will be resuming the self-collection gantry sales on the 23rd of September, 2025”.

Dangote Petroleum Refinery also apologised to its partners for any inconvenience the suspension may have caused, while assuring stakeholders of its commitment to improving efficiency and ensuring seamless supply.

“Meanwhile, please be informed that we are aggressively delivering on the free delivery scheme, and it is still open for registration. We encourage you to register your stations and pay for the product to be delivered directly to you for free. We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your understanding,” it added.

It would be recalled that in September 18, 2025, Dangote refinery had suspended gantry-based self-collection of petroleum products at its depot. The move was designed to accelerate the adoption of its Free Delivery Scheme, which guarantees direct shipments of petroleum products to registered retail outlets across Nigeria.

 The company had also explained that the suspension would help curb transactions with unregistered marketers, either directly at its depot or indirectly through other licensed dealers.

The refinery stressed that the earlier decision was an operational adjustment aimed at streamlining efficiency in the downstream supply chain.

It further warned that any payments made after the effective suspension date would be rejected.
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