The oil and gas business in Nigeria is big money business and not for the faint-hearted.
Before 1993, the game was reserved for big players like Shell, Mobil, Total, Agip and Chevron among others.
That year, then minister of petroleum and mineral resources Professor Jubril Aminu changed the equation when he opened up space for two Nigerian entrepreneurs to play.
In November 1990, Professor Aminu awarded oil blocks to 11 Nigerian entrepreneurs on a discretionary basis. He was convinced that Nigerians had worked long enough with the international oil companies (IOCs) and gained enough experience to run their oil and gas businesses. That discretionary bid round led to the emergence of 12 indigenous companies and success stories like Consolidated Oil (now Conoil) (OPL 113) and others.
More indigenous oil companies joined the fray when President Olusegun Obasanjo awarded marginal field licences in 2000 leading to success stories like Platform Petroleum which teamed up with Shebah to form the game-changing Seplat.
Things got more interesting in 2010 when The Nigerian Local Content bill received presidential assent on April 2, 2010.
The Act was to provide a framework that would guide indigenous content and participation in the Nigerian oil and gas industry. The law also provided for the establishment of the Nigerian Content Monitoring Board (NCMB), charged with the responsibility of managing the coordination, monitoring and implementation of the new Local Content law.
With the coming of the Local Content Act, Nigerian oil servicing companies were suddenly playing in the big league alongside the foreign and dominant players like Haliburton, Schlumberger and Baker Hughes.
One of the companies that have emerged as a local content champion and changing the oil servicing game is Century Energy Services Limited, a subsidiary of the Century Group and here are nine reasons why:
1 Century Energy Services is the first African company to wholly own and operate two (2) FPSO’s on behalf of IOC’s and NOC’s. Their FPSOs have total installed process capacity of 80 kbopd of oil and 80 mmscfd for gas while total installed capacity under their management is 300 kbd of oil and 300 mmscfd for gas. Total storage capacity under their management is more than 4 mmbbls. CESL remains the only company in Nigeria and only (non-IOC) in Africa with Terminal Export Operations able to, at peak production, offload 2 cargos of Suezmax size back to back in a week / simultaneously with 99% uptime. It is also the only Nigerian company (non-Shell) operating a disconnectable turret designed to Australian standards in Nigeria. CESL currently boasts total manpower in excess of 1,000 with a daily operational spend in excess of USD200,000. It is also the only FPSO provider managing a shore base in the Port of Kidney Island and the Lagos Naval dockyard. Today, total asset value under CESL management in oil and gas infrastructure is well over UD $4 billion.
2 CESL has facilitated the Yinka Folawiyo Petroleum (YFP) Operation and Maintenance of the Front Puffin FPSO at OML 113 in the Benin Basin for a period of six years from 2014 to date – helping bring Lagos state to the table of oil-producing states in Nigeria.
3 From 2002 to date, Century Group has, directly and indirectly, participated in about 50 valuable and impactful energy projects worth over $ 2 Billion. With a cumulative daily production of about 200,000 bpd from all its operated locations. CESL currently has power generating capacity of 100mw and Gas handling capacity of 500mscf/d from their numerous operated locations.
4 CESL’s sister company – CPTL – holds a 15-year Licence to operate the Shell owned Island Offshore Logistics support base. This service is impacting other Shell JV partners including TOTAL & ENI. The facility provides adequate storage facilities, including open storage areas, warehouses, chemical sheds, office accommodation and support base services covering the spectrum from stevedoring, materials and inventory management, haulage, marine agency and bespoke supply chain management solutions. Current clients include SPDC, MoniPulo, Folawiyo Aje Services Ltd, Gas group, Erin Petroleum, Omak Marine, Shebah Exploration & Production, Hydrodive Nig. Ltd, Topaz Marine Ltd.
5 CESL has since 2008, provided Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) 2 with Engineering services and project management support for the repairs of SPDC owned offloading buoy terminal in Bonny Island. The company has also facilitated technical skills training for Gbarain Ubie and Afam/Okoloma Youths between 2006 – 2008 on behalf of SPDC.
6 CESL’s Bumi Armada Berhad 1 has provided Operation & Maintenance as well as Procurement & Logistics support of the Armada Perdana FPSO, for Oyo field development on behalf of CAMAC/ENI since 2009 till date. It has also provided since 2008 till date, Operation & Maintenance as well as Procurement & Logistics support of the Armada Perkasa FPSO.
7 For three years beginning 2017, CESL has assisted in transitioning the ownership of the FPSO Armada Perkassa (Princess Aweni) for the Okoro- Setu field development on behalf of Amni International Petroleum Development Company Limited (AMNI). The company has also provided Operation & Maintenance services for production facility and storage unit for the (MOPU/FSO) on behalf of Oriental Energy Resources Limited (Oriental) beginning in 2010 to date.
8 CESL has provided Operations & Maintenance support services to Dresser Rand Nigeria Limited at their operations facilities at the Eku- 1 flow station, as well as for the OBNAGG, SPDC PEB facilities, Soku booster station, Nun-River flow station, Izombe flow station, Oso platform amongst others. CESL has supported operation and maintenance services at the Jones Creek Flow station (OML 42 & OML 119) through a JV for the NNPC Oil Field Services Limited (NOFS) effective 2012 to the present.
9 CESL integrated a robust and effective security network for the Chevron/Conoil Joint Venture across the Niger- Delta. This was a strategic intervention that saved the JV from shut-in of the Pennington terminal between 2007- 2012. The terminal is operated to date on Century Group’s installed structures. The group also provided Operation & Maintenance services for Siemens Afam Power Station repairs from 2005 to 2006.
