The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) and Starzs Gas Limited have expressed positivity about the growth prospects of Nigeria’s gas subsector and its potential boost to the country’s industrialisation.
The Board and the firm made these expressions last Thursday at the groundbreaking ceremony for a Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Mother Station in Iwhreken, Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta State.
Speaking at the event, the Executive Secretary of the NCDMB, Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe, represented by the General Manager, Corporate Communications/Zonal Coordination, Barr. Esueme Dan Kikile, commended Starzs Investments Company Limited, parent company of Starzs Gas, for pushing industry boundaries with its expansion into the gas subsector.
Ogbe described Starzs Gas Limited, whose offerings, The Tide learnt, cuts across natural gas compression, CNG fueling and refueling stations, conversion workshops and training centres, motorised CNG tube skids for sale, and distribution, as well as engineering, construction and procurement solutions, as a veritable vehicle to drive industrialisation and expand Nigeria’s economy.
The NCDMB boss was particularly elated that the multimillion-dollar Integrated CNG Project, which is slated for commissioning in the first quarter of 2026, has come at a time that the Federal Government’s Decade of Gas programme was going full steam, with the Board itself acting as an enabler to numerous gas development and utilisation projects across the country.
On the Board’s performance in implementation of its core mandate, the Executive Secretary disclosed that local content hit 56 percent in the last quarter of 2023, up from five percent in 2010 when the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act came into force, noting also that more Nigerian assets and resources were being utilised in oil and gas operations in-country.
He urged the host community, Iwhrekan, to cooperate with the firm to enable them enjoy maximum benefits and also facilitate unhampered production activities at the company.
He said he was encouraged by the enthusiasm of the House of Representatives member for the Ughelli North/Ughelli South/Udu Federal Constituency, Hon. Francis Waive, who was present at the ceremony, noting that it could facilitate NCDMB’s sustainability programme for protection and security of the company’s facilities.
Speaking earlier, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Starzs Investments Company Limited, Mr. Greg Ogbeifun, said the establishment of the company signalled a generational shift.
Ogbeifun said the Starzs Group, a conglomerate with such leading companies as Starzs Marine and Engineering Services Limited, Starzs Shipyard Limited, and Starzs Investments Company Limited, had for decades focused largely on the maritime industry.
According to him, Starzs Gas Limited was the culmination of unrelenting pressure by his daughter, Miss Iroghama Ogbeifun, that the global clamour for elimination of gas flaring and reduced carbon footprint, which form the basis of President Bola Tinubu’s initiatives on gas utilisation, be considered as a challenge to entrepreneurship.
He said he yielded and provided the necessary material support for the new company, whose focus is on gas for industrial applications, gas-to-power, and gas as auto fuel.
Ogbeifun noted that the company was also engaged in engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) projects within the gas subsector.
He announced the immediate promotion of Miss Iroghama Ogbeifun to the position of Vice Chairman of the conglomerate in appreciation of her exceptional capabilities in visioning and implementing the blueprint for the new business organisation and her energy and drive.
Meanwhile, in her Welcome Address as Managing Director of Starzs Gas Ltd, Miss Ogbeifun expressed profound

Ariwera Ibibo-Howells, Yenagoa