FG to provide institutional support for 60 local oil, gas companies
The Federal Government on Thursday unveiled 60 indigenous oil and gas companies which had been approved to get institutional support from the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, agencies under the FMPR, as well as from other players in the oil sector.
According to the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, the government has approved various forms of institutional support for the 60 shortlisted firms, adding that the companies were part of the 100 oil and gas firms in the Project 100 initiative of the FMPR.
Speaking to senior officials of the 60 companies and other participants at the unveiling of the firms in Abuja, Kachikwu noted that the support from the government would enhance the selected companies’ abilities in accessing finance.
He explained that the provision of letters of introduction to requesting beneficiaries would be included in the beneficiary application for intervention funds and other credit facilities from public and private financial institutions.
The minister said other forms of support for the companies would include highlighting synergies and collaborative opportunities between beneficiaries, as well as with other players across the oil and gas industry to enable them to acquire new capacities and take on large projects.
Kachikwu stated that the project sought to develop next generation large scale Nigerian oil and gas service companies through structured capacity building and policy intervention.
He said the FMPR was promoting Project 100 as an oil and gas industry intervention to identify, recognise and nurture wholly owned indigenous Nigerian oil and gas service providers into large scale players that would create high impact in the economy.
“This impact will be in terms of job creation, technology development, wealth creation and other local content indicators. NCDMB (Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board) was mandated by the ministry to drive the project,” Kachikwu added.
The Executive Secretary, NCDMB, Simbi Wabote, said his agency was partnering the ministry to enhance the capacities of the selected indigenous oil companies, support them financially through an approved fund and help them find opportunities in the industry, in collaboration with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and one of its subsidiaries.
He said, “It is in our interest as a country to support companies operating in the oil and gas industry so that they can create jobs for our teeming population. For the companies, there will be the provision of interventions such as strategic business/technical support, access to the market, etc, in order to promote local capacity development.
“There will also be relevant financial linkage for the provision of actual financial/pecuniary interventions to beneficiaries for well-targeted initiatives that promote local content development.”
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