Oil Companies that will vie for operating licenses must be ready to comply strictly with provisions of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGIC) Act 2010, the federal government said.
A new partnership being forged by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board and the Department of Petroleum Resources will soon ensure that compliance with Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGIC) Act 2010 by operators and service companies will be a key condition for participating in bid rounds and securing licenses, permits and approvals in the industry.
Management of the two agencies, who agreed to ensure this at a meeting in Lagos on Yesterday, also set up a joint committee to design an interface model with regard to common mandates related to Nigerian content development in the oil and gas industry.
Among other things, the committee will develop procedure for operationalizing sections 3 and 7 of the NOGIC Act, which provides that compliance with Nigerian Content provisions, promotion of Nigerian Content development and submission of Nigerian Content Plan will constitute conditions for the award of licenses, permits and any other project in the oil and gas industry.
DPR handles bid rounds and grants licenses and permits which producing and service companies need to operate in the Nigerian oil and gas industry.
Another focus area of the collaboration which is expected to be formally endorsed by the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, is Expatriate Quota Management, where the two agencies hope to interface seamlessly, ensure industry compliance with section 33 of the NOGIC Act, minimise incidents of abuse and ensure optimal knowledge transfer to Nigerians from enforcement
The committee is also to address the increasing incidence of staff disengagement by operators and design partnership model for critical information sharing between DPR and NCDMB to facilitate effective regulation of the industry.
The meeting was led by the Director of DPR, Mr. Osten Olurunsola and the Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Engr. Nwapa, with top management team of both agencies in attendance.
