Nigeria at 62: Chevron’s Commitment to Enabling Local Capacity
As the nation celebrates her 62nd independence, Chevron companies in Nigeria are proud of our partnership and contributions to the social and economic development of the country. We have learnt through decades of operating in Nigeria that our business success in providing affordable, reliable, ever-cleaner energy is directly tied to the progress and prosperity of the people we work with and the communities where we operate. It is for this reason that we have continued to demonstrate our commitment to building mutually beneficial partnerships and supporting the Federal Government’s Nigerian Content Development (NCD) policy aimed at building indigenous capacity in the nation’s oil and gas industry.
Chevron companies in Nigeria are at the forefront of promoting Nigeria’s ideals of Nigerian Content Development. The overall objective of Chevron’s Nigerian Content (NC) Strategy is to encourage the participation of Nigerian companies in the oil and gas industry through the deliberate creation of business opportunities for Nigerian service providers and suppliers. Our policy is driven by the vision to be recognized as the energy company that works best to foster competence and competitiveness among Nigerian indigenous contractors and suppliers, by adopting the participatory-partnership model.
Over the years, Chevron companies have implemented strategies for training, capacity building, and employment of Nigerians, as well as the provision of contracts and procurement opportunities to Nigerians on all projects in our operations. We consistently demonstrate our commitment to empowering community contractors, service providers, and suppliers through developing human and institutional capacity, creating local jobs, developing, and sourcing from local suppliers, employing local workforce, promoting local patronage, and reserving work scopes to benefit local community contractors.
Rick Kennedy, Chairman/Managing Director of Chevron Nigeria, and Mid-Africa Business Unit said Chevron companies have continued to demonstrate their commitment to the socio-economic development of Nigeria through promoting mutually beneficial partnerships and supporting the policies of government on Nigerian Content Development. “We have helped in building the capacities of several Nigerian businesses by providing contracts and procurement opportunities to Nigerians on all projects in our operations. Chevron is also helping to grow the Nigerian economy by contributing to the development of communities in the areas of our operation. We do all this, not just because it is required by law, but because it is the right thing to do.”
In the last 10 years, for instance, Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL) has spent an estimated annual average of $1 billion on Nigerian suppliers and service providers. Chevron provides technical support, support for asset acquisition, and facilitates collaboration on research and development for local community contractors. Our contributions to improved participation of local contractors in the Nigerian oil and gas industry include the following:
Chevron facilitated the first assembled-in-Nigeria Subsea Horizontal Christmas Tree and the fabrication in Nigeria of Agbami production manifolds for the Agbami Phase 3 Project by FMC Technologies Limited /Aveon Offshore Nigeria Limited.
Chevron ensured the safe, timely and successful installation of subsea equipment like flexible flowlines, umbilicals, and jumpers by Marine Platforms Limited, a Nigerian contractor –. Chevron sponsored four Nigerian engineers for subsea engineering training in France, in partnership with NCDMB and Technip Offshore Nigeria Limited
Chevron trained six young Nigerian Engineers in subsea engineering at the FMC facility, Federal Ocean Terminal (FOT) Onne, Rivers State. In addition, five Nigerian Engineering graduates sponsored by Chevron, completed subsea training at Marine Platforms Limited in Port Harcourt.
Chevron recently facilitated the fabrication and assembly of two complicated Single-Point Mooring (“SPM”) buoys structures weighing ~300 tons each by Fenog Nigeria Limited (“Fenog”), an indigenous independent engineering company. The SPM buoys, are critical components of the Escravos Export System Project (“EESP”) scope, required to improve reliability of current JV offshore crude oil export facilities.
Chevron facilitated the fabrication and load out of offshore platform topsides and bridge connection for the Sonam Non-Associated Gas Well Platform (“NWP”) by Nigerdock Plc.; the fabrication and load-out of the Okan Pig Receiving Platform (PRP) topsides; bridge, fabrication of Okan PRP jacket by Globestar Company Limited, in partnership with Idmon Engineering and Construction Co. Limited; installation of 32km 24” Sonam to Okan NWP pipeline by West African Ventures Limited; and the coating of the pipes used for the Sonam Development Project and EESP by Pipe Coaters Nigeria Limited.
The Okan GGCP Debottlenecking project completed final heavy lifts and achieved 1,000,000 Manhours with zero serious injuries or fatality in collaboration with a Nigerian company, Prime Sources Limited (PSL), and its subcontractor, Ariosh Limited
In pursuance of its low carbon reduction and sustainable zero waste goals, CNL partnered with Lafarge Cement PLC to conduct laboratory tests locally on the suitability of cement kiln co-processing technology for our stream of stored wastes as well as to determine the health and safety risks, if any. Based on the success of the tests, CNL awarded a short-term contract to Lafarge to manage stored secondary waste generated from CNL incinerators as additional raw material in cement kiln processing.
CNL’s accomplishments in human capital development include the training fourteen earth science graduates under the 12-month skills acquisition programme initiated by NCDMB. CNL offered scholarships to Nigerian seamen for dynamic positioning training at PEM Offshore Limited, a marine training facility with a 5-year contract worth $1 million and collaborated with the NCDMB to assist over six hundred community graduates to register in the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Joint Qualification System. CNL awarded a contract to a local consulting firm, Lonadek Nigeria Limited, to develop and pilot an industry-first capacity building initiative for drilling and completion professionals.
According to Chevron Nigeria’s Chairman/MD, “Chevron is proud to be a part of Nigeria’s socio-economic development. We will continue to help build Nigerian businesses through the harnessing of its tremendous human resources and capacity; and support for Nigerian Content policy of the Federal Government.”
