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FG will cut production cost in oil industry -Sylva

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, 10, said the Federal Government was committed to its plan to cut the cost of production and boost local participation in the oil and gas sector of the country.

Sylva stated this in an interview with newsmen shortly after his inaugural meeting with the management of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board at its headquarters in Yenagoa.

Sylva was also taken round the 10-megawatt power plant and the 17-storey headquarters building of the NCDMB in the Bayelsa State capital by the board’s management led by the Executive Secretary, Simbi Wabote.

He said that local content was a key component of the Federal Government’s strategy to reduce the cost of production in the oil and gas sector, particularly through active local participation.

He said, “You know that local contractors are cheaper than expatriate/international contractors. This is part of the cost reduction strategy. That’s why I came here to try to encourage them to encourage more local participation.

“I believe that once there is more local participation, cost will reduce. Expatriates come with cost that local contractors do not come with, like insurance and so on.

“Therefore, local contractors tend to be cheaper and that’s why we want to encourage and deepen the local content and, by extension, reduce the cost of doing business in the oil and gas industry in Nigeria.”

The minister described the NCDMB headquarters facility as “an impressive building”, adding that it had demonstrated what Nigerians could do in the country which would encourage local contractors and the board to also engage other local contractors.

He said oil and gas events that were usually held in Abuja and Lagos would henceforth take place in the Niger Delta because of the edifice which the region did not have before now.

Sylva also commended the Wabote-led management of the NCDMB for bringing to bear on the operation of the board a new culture from the multinational oil firms.

Also speaking, the Wabote said the December 2019 date of moving into the gigantic edifice was still feasible.

He said the minister had during the inaugural meeting given the board some charges which would be reviewed and implemented accordingly.

SOURCE: punchng.com

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