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‘PIGB critical to local content development’

By Victor Uzoho
18 July 2019   |   1:40 am
Managing Director, Energia Limited, Leste Aihevba, has called on the Nigerian Government to sign into law the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB) for the development of the oil and gas sector...

petroleum sector

Managing Director, Energia Limited, Leste Aihevba, has called on the Nigerian Government to sign into law the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB) for the development of the oil and gas sector, saying its implementation is critical for local content development in the industry.

According to him, the non-implementation of PIGB, is a major setback to the industry, as the relationship with host communities, government policies and government involvement in the industry is still a huge challenge.

Speaking at the unveiling of Energia’s new office in Lagos, Aihevba, said the oil and gas sector contributes tremendously to the nation’s foreign exchange, hence the need to develop and improve the sector. His words: “The government has a program for local content, and we know this is a high technology industry, and local content is something you achieve in steps.

“For technology involvement, you need to bring foreign partners in and gradually fill internal workforce to harness the technology, and this is part of what PIGB would help achieve, as there are lots of opportunities in the industry.

“Many countries have done it. We bring in foreign partners to help with the start-up technology and allow people to learn. There is a program that ensures that a certain percentage of jobs are done by local partners.”

Speaking further, he charged the government to create a more favorable environment for local and foreign investors for the nation’s economic growth, saying the business environment must encourage indigenous and foreign investors to keep investing.

Meanwhile, he noted that Energia, is the most modern marginal filed for oil and gas in Nigeria, with the vision of being the energy company that is most preferred by everybody for its efficiency, stating that every growing society needs energy, and the company is in the business of producing energy.

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