These images capture the moment the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) and the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the implementation of the NCDMB-PETAN Working Capital Scheme for Nigerian indigenous oil service companies.

In his speech, PETAN Chairman, Mr Nicolas Odinuwe thanked the Federal Government under President Muhammadu Buhari, the Honourable Minister of Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva and the Executive Secretary of the NCDMB, Engr. Simbi Wabote and his team for making the scheme a reality.

He said that since the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act came into being in 2010 resulting in the creation of the NCDMB, giant strides have been recorded in the industry and even more so under the leadership of Engr. Wabote.

“Under the leadership of Engr. Simbi Wabote, the performance level of the NCDMB has been ramped so much that even despite the devastating effects of the COVID 19 pandemic on the industry, we at PETAN can claim without fear of contradiction that the Board is now effectively over-performing

as evidenced by the launch of the Nigerian Content Intervention  (NCI) Fund and now the signing of this scheme which will no doubt, go a long way in leveling the playing field for indigenous oil and gas companies”.

While promising upmost professionalism in the utilisation of the scheme, he added that the move has increased the recovery and success factor of indigenous oil and gas companies exponentially.

Earlier in his remarks, ES of the NCDMB, Engr. Wabote described the signing of the MoU as a landmark event signalling a one of a kind intervention for oil companies that are usually at the receiving end of oil price dips and unforeseen circumstances such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

He charged PETAN to pass the litmus test the scheme presents to pave way for more of such initiatives of the government to materialise.