Shell, NIVAFER Commission In-Country Built High Pressure Fuel Gas Conditioning Skid

Stakeholders on Wednesday converged on the Akowonjo base of Nivafer to witness the unveiling and load out of the gas development project that was launched by President Muhammadu Buhari to bring gas into prominence in powering Nigeria’s economy.

Speaking during the commissioning of the project in Lagos on Wednesday, the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Mr. Simbi Wabote, commended SPDC for driving the delivery of Asa north gas development project, despite the challenges they face in the site during construction due to insecurity in the country.

He, therefore, charged security operatives to do more to protect the lives and properties of people working on such important projects for the country.

He said: “The collaboration between Shell, NIVAFER and SPDC joint venture partners is excellent. It is not easy. Today, the end justifies the means that they say it took a lot of horse-trading for us to arrive at what has to be done in Nigeria, and what cannot be done here.

“It is a bit of a stretch for Shell but as a company committed to the growth of Nigerian content, they decided to accept the challenge and put in all their expertise in terms of supervision and in terms of HSE to ensure that this project is actualised. It has been excellent collaboration and partnership with the joint venture partners and NCDMB.”

Speaking on the importance of the project regarding foreign exchange, Wabote said, “Huge and substantial foreign exchange is saved for the country. Nigerians are employed and a lot of people benefit through the process.

“The excitement that I get out of this, beyond the foreign exchange, is to see Nigerians come to work on a daily basis and go back to take care of their families. It is very simple.

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“In our country, if you employ one person, you employ about 10 other people because that one person can now provide food for 10 other people. So, imagine 150 people walking out of this facility, multiply that by 10. That is the direct impact that things like this will create for Nigeria.

“So, beyond the foreign exchange, my excitement is keeping the teeming Nigerian youths to work and to produce for the country.”

He urged stakeholders in the industry to partner with local content stressing that they have the capacity and capabilities “that make it possible for us to be gathered here today, rather than outside the shores of Nigeria, to celebrate this key milestone achieved by the Nivafer Engineering and Construction limited”.

Also speaking, the Managing Director of Nivafer, Chris Ijeli, expressed happiness over the success of the project, stating that it was delivered by Nigerian engineers, artisans and experts.

He said: “This project has spoken for itself, delivered on time and within cost. That is what we are known for. So, we have to improve again and move to a higher level, because in competition, if you sleep, your competitors will catch you.

“We are a step ahead of our competition and we will do more to improve and also build more capacity. Because first if you have excess capacity, your cost drops. You have a low-cost rate. So, we will have to build more capacity to do better jobs in-country.”

According to him, the indigenous company will continue to build more projects to ease the stress of importing equipment from outside the country and further strengthen the productivity level of the country.

In his address, the representative of SPDC, Afolabi Ojo, said the project is a landmark achievement for all stakeholders in the industry.

Ojo, who is the Project Engineer of Shell, thanked NCDMB for recognising the contribution of Shell to local content creators.

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