Kachikwu backs calls for oil majors to relocate headquarters

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The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, has expressed his support for the calls that major oil companies should relocate their head offices to the Niger Delta where they carry out exploration and production activities.
Kachikwu, who stated this on Wednesday at the Nigeria Oil and Gas Opportunity Fair 2017 organised by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, also stressed the need for the provision of an enabling environment.

There have been calls by stakeholders and groups in the Niger Delta for the International Oil Companies such as Chevron and ExxonMobil to relocate their head offices to the region.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo was recently reported to have asked the major oil companies to relocate their main offices to the Niger Delta as part of measures to curb the unrest in the region.

In a keynote address on ‘Advancing indigenous participation in the Nigerian oil and gas industry for national development’, Kachikwu highlighted the imperative of security as a first requirement to boost local content in the oil and gas industry.
He said he and other government officials had been going round the country to get everybody involved in solving the security challenge in the Niger Delta.
Kachikwu said, “We are working more collaboratively with the ministers, and the Vice President is finding time to go round with us and the rest of the ministers. We are working collaboratively with governors with no party lines at all to try and find a solution, and it is yielding results. In three months, we have not had an incident.

“A lot of work still needs to be done. If you want local content, you have got to provide the enabling environment.”
Commenting on the call for relocation of the IOCs’ offices, the minister said, “I totally support that we need to look at the new model. But there is a need to provide the requisite security environment.”
According to him, the country has the capacity to produce four million barrels of crude oil per day.
He said the government remained focused on promoting local refining of crude oil, adding, “We need to reduce the amount of raw materials we send out of the country. We need to refine.”

The Akwa Ibom State Governor, Mr. Udom Emmanuel, stressed the need for a deliberate effort by both the government and the oil companies to boost local capacity in the industry and enhance security.
“We have paid lip service to the issue of capacity building over the years. We need to transfer technology by building skills development centres in the region,” Emmanuel added, urging oil companies to partner the state governments to achieve this.
The Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, Mr. Simbi Wabote, said one of the challenges in the oil industry was the need to integrate all the regulatory agencies to ensure speed and effectiveness in performing their regulatory functions.

He expressed confidence in the local capacity and facilities in the industry, adding that the local content law had improved capacity since it came on stream.
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Gas, Senator Bassey Akpan, in his goodwill message, said the National Assembly was working towards the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill, which he said would change the state of the industry