Hope Rises As Jonathan Signs Local Content Bill

Indigenous service companies in all aspects of the nation’s oil and gas sector are poised for a new lease of life folowing last week’s signing into law of the much-expected Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Bill, otherwise called the Local Content Bill by Acting President Goodluck Jonathan. Those that have personnel and capacity to execute jobs in the country’s oil and gas sector would henceforth get exclusive considerations ahead of their foreign multinationals.

Emphasising the import of the new law, Jonathan stressed that it will “address the compelling need for us as a nation to have indigenous participation in the oil industry”, emphasising that it shall “apply to all matters pertaining to Nigerian content in respect of all operations or transactions carried out or connected with the Nigerian oil and gas industry.”
 “Henceforth, there shall be exclusive consideration to Nigerian indigenous service companies which demonstrate ownership of equipment, Nigerian personnel and capacity to execute jobs in the Nigerian oil and gas industry”, he declared.
Adding further, the Acting President said:  “Therefore, all regulatory authorities, operators, contractors, sub-contractors, alliance partners and other entities involved in any project, operation, activity or transaction in the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry shall consider Nigerian content as an important element of their overall project development and management philosophy for project execution.”
Jonathan however acknowledged that there may be some imperfections in the new law, “we are surely on the road to greater security through ownership and participation as well as industrial technology development”.
He consequently directed that the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board established in accordance with the Local Content Act shall make procedures to guide, monitor, coordinate and implement the provisions of the new law to ensure and enforce measurable and continuous growth of Nigerian content in all oil and gas operations in Nigeria.