GE shows commitment to local content development in Nigeria

18 Jun 2015
Martins Hile

Summary

GE Oil & Gas has continued to seek to increase the competitiveness of the solutions for the Nigerian oil & gas industry.

Dr. Lazarus Angbazo, President and CEO, General Electric Nigeria

Subsea wellheads – which provide the surface interface for oil and gas wells with drilling and production equipment -- will now be fabricated in General Electric’s oil and gas facility in Onne, Rivers State. This development was disclosed in Lagos on June 18th, 2015 by the President and CEO of General Electric Nigeria, Dr. Lazarus Angbazo.

The facility, which is the first of its kind in Nigeria, is a product of planning, capital investment and training of Nigerian personnel over the last four years. Nigerian engineers have been trained in Nigeria and abroad to operate the facility in compliance with the local content law and the clamour for capacity building, skill acquisition and technology transfer.

Nevertheless, Chief Operating Officer of GE Oil and Gas, West Africa, Uzo Nwagwu, said that for GE, this milestone represents a lot more than complying with the laws on local content. “This is not about ticking the box on local content compliance. It’s about localizing our people, localizing our capabilities; localizing our suppliers and localizing the training and the human capital. This is the only thing that makes sustainable business sense to support our huge investments in the country,” Nwagwu said.

GE Oil & Gas has continued to seek to increase the competitiveness of the solutions for the Nigerian oil & gas industry. Therefore, the domiciling of subsea wellhead fabrication will give Nigeria-based operators the opportunity to buy locally and avoid delivery-related delays and also save on cost, while supporting the growth of the domestic oil & gas sector. Dr. Angbazo referred to the establishment of the wellhead fabrication facility as a true win-win proposition for the indigenous industry and the Nigerian content agenda.

Actual manufacturing operations at GE’s Onne facility will begin in a couple of months. The facility has an exceptional safety record, which shows GE's commitment to the country's oil & gas sector. The site provides complete assembly, testing and life cycle service for subsea tree systems, subsea control modules, specialty connectors and pipe. It also includes a dedicated on-site training center and offers broad business development opportunities for local suppliers.


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