Chevron Put Commitment to Nigeria’s Local Content at $2bn

Chineme Okafor in Abuja

Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL) has said its financial commitment to the development of Nigeria’s local content law in the operations of the country’s oil and gas industry has now reached $2 billion.
But the oil and gas company did not state the period the investment was made.

CNL also stated that it had spent $74 million and $284 million respectively for procurement of materials through Local Community Contractors (LCC) and cost of services provided by indigenous companies, adding that it has adopted a four-prong approach to its implementation of the provisions of the Nigerian Content Development (NCD) law.

These approaches it explained in a statement sent to THISDAY in Abuja, included selection of qualified local contractors; facilitation of partnerships and alliances between indigenous companies and foreign firms; capacity building; and development of local competencies.
According to CNL, it had also supported local production of barite with its donation of barite mining equipment worth $1.4 million to indigenous miners.

“CNL with its affiliates in the country, is one of the international oil companies (IOCs) that had a pre-NOGICD policy in place and has in the post-NOGICD era remained committed to Nigerian Content Development (NCD) by partnering with the NCDMB to significantly grow Nigerian Content in the oil and gas industry.

“In its 2017 Corporate Responsibility Report, CNL states that the company’s investment in NC was approximately $2 billion while procurement of materials through Local Community Contractors (LCC) and cost of services provided by indigenous companies were $74 million and $284 million respectively,” said the statement.

The statement equally quoted its Managing Director, Mr. Jeff Ewing, to have explained that the company’s stance on Nigeria’s local content was that of building partnerships that would remain mutually beneficial to the industry.
“At Chevron Nigeria Limited, we demonstrate our commitment to the socio-economic development of Nigeria by building 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 allocating substantial scopes of our major capital projects to Nigerian companies. 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 the law, but because it is the right thing to do,” Ewing stated.

He further noted that: “Chevron will continue to empower Nigerian service providers and suppliers through human and business capacity development; local patronage and work scope allocation; fostering of business partnerships and sponsorship of research and development programmes to enhance the capacity of indigenous companies to participate in the oil and gas industry.”

Chevron noted that it had supported the local content law to develop the human capacity of the industry; facility fabrication; and improve construction and installation, as well as support for facility acquisition; facilitate partnerships between local and foreign contractors and provide business opportunities for local community contractors.

It added for instance that the $1.4 million barite mining equipment it procured was for the Association of Miners and Producers of Barite (AMAPOB) which members also got trainings in this regard, to boost the supply and quality of local barite, reduce importation of barite and create jobs for the local communities.