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‘Egina, Pushing Nigerian Content Frontier’

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Being a text of a keynote address by the Deputy Managing Director, Deep Water, Total Upstream Companies in Nigeria, Mr. Ahmadu-Kida Musa, at the Nigeria Oil & Gas Conference & Exhibition (NOG) 2018, held at ICC, Abuja, July 2, 2018.
The theme of this
seminar,  “Nigerian Content: The Next Frontier” is relevant for understanding the need to drive the Nigerian oil and gas industry towards sustainable development and growth. It is also an opportunity to discuss important issues the industry may be grappling with as it tries to assume a more local approach in its activities.
I am, therefore, rather delighted to speak about the modest Nigerian Content efforts at Total and what is seen as the next frontier for the industry in terms of in-country activities. You must, however, forgive me, if you find that, in the course of my speech, I keep returning to my current favourite subject, namely, the Egina Project.
Egina Project was sanctioned in 2013, three years after the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act was signed into law, but It is important to look back at where the sector was to enable us appreciate achievements recorded.
And today’s achievements will be the second part. I will look at the Industry’s post-NOGICD response and what progress was made in advancing Nigerian Content.
The last part will focus on the next frontier for the industry in this area and, with that, we shall wrap up this conversation on a subject I find very interesting.
PRE-NOGICD ACT 2010
Until a few decades ago, the key players in almost all the key sectors of Nigeria’s oil and gas industry were the international oil companies. From exploration to production, refining and trading, the main actors were foreign multinationals.
Oil blocks and assets were owned by foreign oil majors and oil service contracts for engineering, drilling, wireline logging services, supply of safety equipment, construction & fabrication, etc. were largely awarded to foreign owned companies. All these companies were, of course, managed by foreign personnel especially for technical positions. Many project teams were based abroad and only a few Nigerians were lucky enough to be trained abroad or to work abroad, to acquire the relevant technical knowledge and experience necessary to take up key positions in Nigeria.
But by the 1990s, Nigeria joined other emerging economies who sought to take ownership and control of their natural resources for exploitation and transformation into economic development.
To achieve this, some of these emerging economies began to formulate policies and legislation that would compel economic actors to adopt policies that promoted local over foreign.
In 2005, Nigeria took what many analysts consider the most significant step towards Nigerian Content by introducing what was known as the Local Content Policy. As you well know, the main thrust of this Local Content Policy was to promote a framework for which local competencies in the oil and gas sector will be developed through the active involvement of Nigerians using local resources.
The intention of the government, at the time, was to use the local content Policy as a means of discouraging capital flight in the oil and gas industry.
At that time, the Nigerian Government’s Local Content Policy implementation was administered by guidelines issued by the regulatory agencies such as the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and the Nigerian Content Division of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
With this, the industry started to take some steps to embrace Nigerian Content. Some partnered with local contractors on low-risk projects because of concerns about quality and the availability of local capacity. Others embarked on some capacity building efforts, setting up training schools or supporting the upgrade of local yards to manage certain workscopes. Indeed, it has been said that before the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act came into effect, many industry players approached Nigerian Content as a matter of Corporate Social Responsibility.
Nigerian content was carried out at the discretion of the individual company and often dependent on availability of funding and previous experience with local contractors and partners. Nigerian Content was not really seen as an obligation by many operators. It was often something that was done as an expression of goodwill.
However, there were of course some companies that realised that developing local competencies was a key to sustainability in the future.
It was during this pre-NOGICD period that Total decided to invest in the establishment of a world class petroleum training institution right here in Nigeria; showing its commitment to capacity building and the development of Nigerian Content.
The Institute of Petroleum Studies (IPS), Port Harcourt, was established in a unique tripartite collaboration with the University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria, the French Petroleum Institute, IFP, France and the NNPC/Total E&P Joint Venture.
The institute has consistently produced highly skilled manpower equipped with both the intellectual and technical competencies required in the oil and gas industry. Since its establishment in 2003, IPS has produced over 400 Master of Science graduates and about the same number of Engineering Diploma degree holders; many of whom have filled key positions in various oil and gas companies in Nigeria!
On Total’s projects, Nigerian Content was already a major component before the NOGICD ACT. The Akpo Project, which was sanctioned in 2005 recorded a cumulative Nigerian Content performance of 44%. In 2008, the FID was taken on the Usan Project and by the time the project was completed, the Nigerian Content record had climbed up to 60%.
The point here is that even before Nigerian Content became a matter of law, some in the industry were already on board
POST-NOGICD ACT 2010
On April 22, 2010, the way the business of oil and gas was done in Nigeria changed. That was the day the Nigerian Oil & Gas Industry Content Development Act was signed into law. And the industry, which had already started to embrace the objectives and ideals of Nigerian Content, needed to double its efforts.
The NOGICD Act ushered in an era where in-country value became the focus. With the government now leading the charge with legislation and efficient monitoring through the NCBMB, things began to change more rapidly.
The underlying philosophy and objectives of Nigerian Content today include a focus on:
In-country competency development,  technology development ,   job creation, revenue retention, research and developmentas well as  industrialisation.
The relationship between the Nigerian Content Monitoring & Development Board (NCDMB) and the Industry is that of partners who understand that their goal is the same: local capacity means more robust bottom lines for the Industry and more value for the country as a whole.
In this context, more Nigerian owned engineering firms as well as construction and fabrication yards became more visible as important players in the industry. Many of them became strengthened to participate in FEED and eventually improved capacity fabrication yards began to compete for major development projects.
I must add though that a lot of oil and gas Companies were sceptical of the final destination of this new found impetus by Nigeria on local content.

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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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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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