Industry players and companies ready to be creative and collaborate have immense business opportunities in providing quality solutions to the challenges that the oil and gas industry faces in implementing Local Content as required by the Nigerian Oil & Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act, says the Managing Director of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited (SNEPCo), Mr. Bayo Ojulari. Speaking on Wednesday, September 16, 2020, at the 12th Edition of the annual PSRG–RICHARDSON Health, Safety, Security and Environment (HSSE) Forum, which had as theme “Nigerian Content Development: Facing The Future”, he projected that while there is increasing support, regulations are going to get stricter to ensure full compliance by companies.

“There are areas where we can quickly close gaps identified in local content implementations”, Mr. Ojulari reiterated at the Forum, which held as a Webinar due to health protocols induced by the COVID-19 pandemic.

He repeatedly emphasised the need for collaboration among Nigerian companies as a reliable way to harness the different skills that will grow the industry. “Collaboration is key to unlocking value. Don’t do it all alone, you always benefit from partnering”, he said.

Several leading industry players at the Webinar highlighted that “local content is a marathon and not a sprint”, with Mr. Ojulari underlining the need to reinforce established processes and framework that will lead to achieving the goals of Nigerian Content.

He reminded indigenous companies to continue to invest in improving the quality of their products and services since, he said, “we cannot implement Local Content at the expense of quality. Don’t compromise on quality or safety. Instead, have a system in place to manage both quality and safety.”

With the extension of the implementation of Nigerian Content to other industries, like mines, power and information technology, Mr. Ojulari projected that there is more potential for success in these industries if the learnings from the pioneering example of the oil and gas industry are applied.

“The oil and gas industry is very complex and highly technical. With the success achieved in the oil and gas industry, other industries have good example to follow,” he said.