Disagreement between the Department of Petroleum Resources and the National Petroleum Investment Management Services, a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, is threatening government's implementation of the local content policy.
Both organisations, which are relevant to the formulation and implementation of the local content policy, have been at loggerheads over responsibilities, with the result that representatives of both organisations no longer attend meetings of the Nigeria Local Content Group.
The NLCG is the body saddled with the responsibility to formulate the local content policy for the country.
Our correspondent gathered that the group had at a meeting with the Presidential Adviser on Petroleum and Energy Matters, Dr. Edmund Daukoru, in Brazil last week, presented the report of the Phase 1 of the process of producing the local content policy where it also complained about the disagreement between NAPIMS and DPR.
The leader of the Group, Mr. Moses Kragher, was quoted as saying that the disagreement between DPR and NAPIMS could frustrate efforts of the group to complete the assignment.
"There was a little involvement of DPR and NAPIMS in the phase 1, largely because their respective representatives did not agree with each other, attended none of the meetings and did not make any contribution. Although members of the team from DPR and NAPIMS were duly appointed, they showed little interest and would not cooperate with each other. For Phase 2 to proceed, this issue has to be resolved," he was quoted as saying.
Besides, the disagreement between the DPR and NAPIMS, the group had recommended that financiers of Phase I of the process, the Norwegian Reference Group, would have to be replaced for the second phase.
The group had also complained that the draft local content policy that was submitted to the Ministry of Petroleum Resources in preparation for legislation on local content had gone into the cooler and that no progress had been made since it was submitted.
Meanwhile, the group has shortlisted 10 out of the 2000 indigenous contractors in the DPR register as those that met the international standards for handling contracts in the oil and gas industry.
It had earlier pre-qualified 56 out of the 2000 contractors before it narrowed the list down to 10 after it visited their facilities. The short listing has thus ended the first stage in the process.
Daukoru had complained about the low number of short listed firms to which the Federal Government consultant, INTSOK had pointed out that the number was not too low and that countries like Norway started with smaller number of firms.
Daukoru has also said that he would interfere in the rift between the DPR and NAPIMS to ensure the continuation of the process.
