Managing director/chief executive officer of the Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG) Philip Mshelbila has stressed the company’s commitment to ensuring Nigerians benefit maximally from all its operations by going beyond mere compliance with Nigerian content targets as set out in the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act (NOGICD) 2010.
Mshelbila spoke on August 24 while leading a delegation on a courtesy visit to the executive secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Engr. Simbi Wabote, at the regulator’s head office in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
NLNG delegation included NLNG’s deputy managing director, Olalekan Ogunleye; general manager, external relations and sustainable development, Andy Odeh; general manager, human resources, Terhemba Makeri; manager, contracts and procurement management, Abdul Umar; manager, Nigerian content development, Engr. Dagogo Buowari; manager, community development, Charles Epelle, among other NLNG staff.
Philip said NLNG considered Nigerian content a core part of its strategy in line with its corporate vision of being “a globally competitive LNG company helping to build a better Nigeria.” He commended the NCDMB for the successful and historic relationship between the regulator and the company which emphasised joint value creation, citing the unique Service Level Agreement (SLA) between NLNG and NCDMB as a classic example of the board enabling business. He also expressed appreciation to the board for the collaboration which had led to the smooth take-off of the Train 7 project which recently recorded seven million safe man-hours without a lost-time injury incident.
Philip mentioned that NLNG remained committed to 100% in-country supply of its liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) volumes and stressed that within the context of the global energy transition, support of regulators like the NCDMB would be critical in ensuring access, availability and affordability of energy for domestic consumption. He proposed the formation of an NLNG-NCDMB technical working group which would meet periodically to discuss and resolve such strategic and other operational issues.
In response, the executive secretary of NCDMB congratulated NLNG for smooth and successful leadership transition while maintaining national pride of being led by a 100% Nigerian senior management team.
He assured that the regulator would continue to work with NLNG to deliver on its Nigerian content commitments in its Train 7 Project to positively impact local manufacturing capacity and employment levels in the country. He encouraged the company to begin preparations for Train 8 and also endorsed the idea of an exchange programme of staff between both organisations to deepen knowledge of each other’s inner workings for better partnership and business efficiency.
