The regulatory authorities in the oil and gas industry have been advised do more to ensure that International Oil Companies (IOCs) continue to award contracts to competent local firms as this is the only way to grow the capacity of indigenous firms and also create jobs for citizens.
Emmanuel Okon, managing director/ceo of Engineering Automation Technology Limited (EATECH gave this advise during his induction as Fellow of the Institute of Oil and Gas Research and Hydrocarbon Studies (IOGRHS) in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Emmanuel Okon, managing director/ceo said his efforts to deepening the participation of indigenous firms in the Nigerian oil and gas sector made him to establish his facility at Eket.
He said his company has saved the country several millions of dollars that would have left through capital flights, by carrying out instrument calibration and fabrication jobs at his facility in Eket, Akwa Ibom State.
These he said are normally done by multinational oil firms abroad.
He lauded the Federal Government for coming out with the Local Content Law in the oil and gas sector saying it was the law that gave a big boost to his dream of floating a vibrant indigenous oil and gas service company in the country.
According to him: “Every year we launch and develop new solutions and technology to the Nigerian industry and we have established Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) authorized service centres in-country both for mechanical and instrumentation automation process. We are calibrating in our laboratories and this has gone a long way in curbing capital flights in the country.”
He decried the award of contracts by multinational oil firms to Nigeria firms that lacked the capacity for future growth.
“The IOCs should focus solely in patronising local companies with systems and structures in the award of contracts under the local content law and not companies that will conclude a job and park up with no continuity,” Okon said.
Local companies in the industry,he said, should be encouraged by various regulatory agencies to develop systems and structures because this remains the only way to ensure the sustained development of local firms and workforce.
The Nigerian oil and gas industry is going to suffer in the long run if capacity building is not seen as the key driver by operators and regulators, adding that this is the only way to guarantee and deliver the next generation of skilled workforce for the industry
Akin Akindoyeni, chairman of council for the Institute of Oil and Gas Research and Hydrocarbon Studies , at a short speech before the induction said Okon was installed as a Fellow of the Institute “for his specialisation in Corporate Leadership and Foresight.”
He commended the EATECH CEO for his vision, commitment and hard work in realising his set targets as a local player in the petroleum industry
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