Engr. Simbi Wabote, the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), has revealed that the Nigerian Oil and Gas Park would be completed in the 4th quarter of 2022.
The ES who made this statement while inspecting the construction work at the project site disclosed that his assessment tour would be followed up by a planned tour of the Board’s major projects by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva.
According to him, the Minister during his tour will inspect the board’s oil and gas park projects at Emeyal 1 and Odukpani in Cross River State, as well as the Composite Gas Cylinder Manufacturing facility at Polaku.
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In his statement, he lauded the efforts of the contractors, saying the progress made by the contractors in a short period of time, compared favourably with similar jobs across Nigeria.
He noted that this impressive attitude to work by the Nigerian contractors is the major reason why the Board was always acting in accordance with its guidelines on the patronage of local service companies.
The NCDMB boss noted that the park will create a low-cost manufacturing hub that will produce equipment components and spare parts to be utilized in the nation’s oil and gas industry.
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What they are saying
Engr. Wabote in his statement said: “We did the groundbreaking ceremony in 2018 and we were practically inside the water; but today, we are seeing structures coming up. We still have a long way to go because most of the buildings are getting to the finishing stages while some are just starting. We believe that we will complete this project by Q4, 2022.”
Wabote, who also spoke about the benefits of the park scheme to the nation’s economy disclosed that upon completion, the project would curb the importation of finished petroleum products.
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He said, “The facility will stimulate the manufacturing of oil and gas components in the country, this move will reverse the current trend whereby the sector depended on importation for most of its finished products.
Speaking about the socio-economic benefit of the park, he said,“It will also enhance our capacity and bring about technological innovations because most of those manufacturing will be done here. For the community, it will create a lot of jobs and there will be a spin-off effect on other economic activities. The benefits are enormous.”
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What you should know
- The Executive Secretary of NCDMB stated that the Nigerian Oil and Gas Park project started with a groundbreaking ceremony on April 27, 2018.
- The project at press time is about 68 percent complete. Four major structures are near completion while foundation work has commenced on some buildings and parts of the project.
- In a bid to ensure a stable power supply for companies that would be set up in the park, the Board has also built a 10megawatts gas plant to guaranty power to the site. Aside from this, the company is also committed to building a water treatment plant, sewage systems and piping network for water.