As Obijackson Sets New Record in Nigerian Content

With the recent load-out of nine Oil Loading Terminal Buoy Anchor Moring Piles, which were fabricated for Total’s 200,000 barrels per day Egina Deepwater Field by Energy Works Technology Limited, a sister company of Nestoil and subsidiary of the Obijackson Group, Ejiofor Alike reports that indeed Nigerian companies have built the required capacity for in-country integration of FPSOs in Nigeria

Since hydrocarbon exploration and production started in Nigeria more than 50 years ago, a total of 14 Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSOs) vessels have been built for Nigeria in foreign fabrication yards.

Apart from providing residential and office accommodation for offshore oil workers in the living quarters built on the topsides of an FPSO, the floating facility is also used to process and store crude oil before the crude is loaded to vessels for shipment.

The FPSOs in Nigerian oilfields were built in the Korean yards, while some of the structures such as the modules, platforms, bridges (gangway), helipad, among others, where were fabricated in Nigerian yards, were also shipped to Korea for integration into the main FPSOs before the FPSOs sailed to Nigeria.

However, the enactment of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act (NOGICD) Act of 2010, better known as the Local Content Act, has provided a game-changer as it has domiciled more scope of an FPSO project, including the integration in-country, thus challenging Nigerian companies to build more capacity to be able to execute these challenging jobs.

In other words, the NOGICD Act provides that more works in the building of an FPSO should be done locally, while the main FPSO should also sail to Nigeria and be integrated locally before sailing to an oil field.

The first FPSO scheduled to be integrated in Nigeria is the $3.3 billion Egina FPSO being built in South Korea by Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) for Total’s 200,000 barrels per day capacity Egina deepwater oil field being developed at the cost of $16 billion.

Egina Field, which is being developed by Total Upstream Nigeria Limited (TUPNI), is in the Oil Mining Lease (OML) 130 located at about 200 kilometres from Port Harcourt in a water depths ranging from 1,150 metres to 1,750 metres.

LADOL, in partnership with SHI, is constructing an FPSO integration yard in Lagos, a legacy investment that will be completed later this year, for the integration of Egina FPSO and indeed, all future FPSO built for the West African sub-region.

Since the Egina project started, many Nigerian yards – Aveon Offshore, Dorman Long, Nigerdock and other Nigerian service companies have recorded landmark achievements in the fabrication of the various components of the work scope, in line with the NOGICD Act

 

OLT Buoy Anchor Moring Piles

The successful fabrication of nine Oil Loading Terminal (OLT) Buoy Anchor Moring Piles for the Egina project by Energy Works Technology Limited, a sister company of Nestoil and subsidiary of Obijackson Group, was a game changer in Nigerian Content.

Energy Works Technology (EWT) Limited is Nigeria’s leading fabricator and manufacturer of Pressure Vessels, process plant equipment and steel structures.

According to the details of the project as provided by the Group Chief Operating Officer (GCOO) in charge of Drilling, Fabrication and Ship Side Repairs, Mr. Gabriel Oramasionwu, who also oversees EWT, each of the nine OLT Piles is measuring 5 metres OD x 24 metres High x 40mm Wall Thickness and weighing 141 tonnes.

According to him, the OLT Piles work scope package weighing 1269 tonnes was delivered in 21 months, with a record of 532,987 man-hours with no Lost Time Injury, which is a remarkable indigenous accomplishment in the Nigeria oil and gas industry.

He recalled that it was in September 2013 that Saipem Contracting Nigeria Limited outsourced the contract for Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Installation (EPCI) of the Egina UFR Project, which was the fabrication of structures to Energy Works Technology Limited following the satisfactory fulfilment of the requirements for the award.

The various workscopes in the subcontract, which were all strictly executed in line with the activation guidelines for the project, includes 48 Long Base Line (LBL) Arrays Structures; nine OLT Buoy Anchor Mooring Piles with overall total weight of 1,269 tonnes; six Pig Launchers and Receivers and 330 non-incorporated materials of various structures with overall total weight of 1,004 tonnes.).

In addition to these, the subcontract also includes provision of company services involving supply of client’s offices including furnishings, messing facility among others.

However, the OLT Piles workscope, which represented the bulk of the work, was activated in three batches of three piles each.

According to Oramasionwu, Batch 1 was activated on the March 4, 2015 and fabrication activities commenced on the April 7, 2015.

The second and third batches were activated in July and October 2015, respectively, following due consideration of EWT’s performance on the Batch 1.

He noted that during the course of the fabrication works, EWT focused on the use and development of local capacity.

“EWT was able to sustain employment for over 200 employees. As we celebrate the successful completion of the OLT piles, whose sail-away we are here to celebrate; we are in the process of initiating the scope on the PLR, though now reduced in scope, we humbly request the activation of other scope of work, like the “Non Incorporated Materials” to enable us sustain this built capacities,’ he added.

Also, speaking during the recent load-out and sail-away ceremony at Nestoil’s Industrial Complex at Abuloma base in Port Harcourt, the Group Managing Director of Obijackson Group, Mr. Ernest Azudialu-Obiejesi noted that EWT has established a track-record of excellence and performance since it was incorporated in 1999, adding that the successful execution of the outsourced contract for the Egina project was yet another remarkable achievement.

“It clearly means that the Nigerian Local Content Act is a success because Nigerian companies, technicians and engineers have acquired expertise, and built capacity that has increased indigenous participation in the Nigerian Oil and Gas sector. With the Local Content Act, we have made significant progress as a nation and assumed a position of dignity amongst International Oil Companies (IOCs), and other players in the sector, who are the beneficiaries of our first-rate services,” he explained.

According to him, EWT took advantage of the opportunity created by the Local Content Act to nurture its skills to achieve this remarkable feat, stressing that as an innovative company, EWT has become the signpost for world-class expertise in the Nigerian environment.

He added that over the years, the company has demonstrated its outstanding technical competence and resourcefulness in delivering complex fabrication works and projects for clients.

Azudialu-Obiejesi revealed that before fabricating the OLT Piles for Egina project, EWT had constructed and delivered LP Flare Knock-Out Drum (Flare KOD) to Samsung Egina FPSO project, describing the project as one of the heaviest types fabricated locally and produced to specification to remove liquid droplets carried over with gas relief sent to the flare.

He also stated that before that, the company had also delivered the Soku Non-Associated Gas (NAG) 90mm Thick Clad Separator Vessel for Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC)and described these achievements as clear testament to the maturity of indigenous players in the oil and gas sector and an overwhelming testimony about their capacity to execute and deliver best-in-class projects.

“Indigenous capacity has developed phenomenally as a result of the commitment of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) and the confidence shown in our abilities by operators in the Nigerian Oil and Gas sector, who test and nurture our capacities, with their patronage,” he added.

In a speech delivered on behalf of Total Upstream, the General Manager in charge of Egina Project Control, Partners and Authorities Relations, Mr. Felix Ekam commended EWT, stressing that the true achievement “is when we deliver on our commitments despite all challenges faced, and what we are seeing here today is just that – all of us together delivering on our collective promises”.

“Today, we celebrate one of the major milestones on the project, which is the load out of the OLT piles, fully designed and fabricated in Nigeria,” he added.

Ekam noted that of particular importance to Total is the fact that EWT was able to complete this workscope safely – 400,000 man-hours – with zero lost time injury.

“For Total, safety is a core value, because we believe that nothing can be achieved in our industry without respect for the very highest safety standards. We are delighted to see that we are well-aligned with our partners and with SAIPEM and EWT on this objective,” he added.

 

NCDMB Lauds local firms

Also speaking, the Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Mr. Simbi Wabote hailed the performance of Nigerian service companies on different scopes of the Egina Deepwater project, stressing that they have demonstrated capacity growth on the back of the NOGICD Act.

According to him, Egina is the first major project to start under the Nigerian Content Act, adding that his agency strategy ensured the utilisation of existing in-country capacity, as well as the upgrade of facilities to meet the targets specified in the Act and Capacity Development Initiatives (CDIs) where local capacities did not exist.

He assured that the CDIs would bring down the cost of future projects, promising that the Nigerian Agip Oil Company’s “Zabazaba and Etan Deepwater Project must not only utilise capacities and facilities developed on past projects but also exceed the Nigerian Content performance achieved on Egina.”

Wabote also praised the Obijackson Group, recalling that the company started to build capacity over 20 years ago.

“They took serious investment risks and we now have a manifestation of that focus, tenacity and belief in the development of the Niger Delta. They believed that this is where the activities are and put this massive structure here, employing about 2,500 persons, even more than most multinationals you know about in Nigeria.”

 

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