MG Vowgas collaborates with PE Energy, NCCF; reduce capital flight

....to build deep offshore sea port with international partners

By Jerome Onoja

L-R Timi Austen-Peters and Godwin Izomor

Indigenous oil and gas servicing companies, MG Vowgas Limited and PE Energy have set the pace, and charged their counterparts in the oil and gas space to collaborate in order to secure massive projects, create jobs and drastically reduce the ongoing capital flight in the industry. Speaking during the facility visit of MG Vowgas in Port Harcourt, which marked the end of Practical Nigeria Content, PNC 2019, the Managing Director of MG Vowgas, Mr Godwin Izomor stated that, “huge amount of money is leaving the country yearly and it’s only wise for service companies to collaborate, in a bid to stop the trend. Collaboration is the way forward for the industry, as it will promote a vibrant economy and ensure growth of the companies”.

“We need to jettison unhealthy competition, come together and take up big projects with different modules of specialties. “MG Vowgas is presently collaborating with PE Energy and we are almost done signing the MoU to carry out some fabrication works. “We have seen SAIPEM, Daewoo and Chiyoda collaborate. What stops us from doing same?” he quipped. Corroborating Izomor’s position, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), PE Energy Limited, Mr Daere Akobo said, “Competent indigenous companies with the right skills have been identified in Nigeria. So, we should collaborate and not operate in silos”.

He said, “together with MG Vowgas, we are working on a project in which they handle the fabrication, while we do integration of all the electrical systems, control systems, fire and gas, and other works. “All integrations will be done on a facility sitting on 28 plots of land, which we newly acquired,” he added. Speaking on building capacity for in-country value retention, Mr Izomor said, “the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) spends over US$180 million annually to service their 26 ships. That’s part of the capital flight we are talking about. So, are we just going to sit back and do nothing?

“Consider ships operating in Nigeria. For minor repairs or dry docking, they go to South Africa, Singapore or Europe and we lose all that money! “Up till today, NLNG has about 26 fleet of ships that are serviced and dry docked in Europe and other countries of the world. We are losing all the money due to lack of facilities to cater for these need. “It is high time we built a shipyard in the country. The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has said, no vessel built outside Nigeria can work in Nigeria by 2024; and we are happy that government has taken the initiative. “This is partly what informed our strategic plan for the next 5 years, when we shall be building a shipyard and a deep offshore sea port”.

Based on projections, the MD said, shipyard and deep offshore port will cost the company over US$2billion. “Our funding will come through European international organisations and banks. But, I must state that we avoid the Chinese. Our business model doesn’t permit that”, he added. However, the MG Vowgas boss had a concern. He expressed disappointment in the level of security. Complaining that companies operating in the Niger Delta set aside huge amount of money to cater for security. He charged the government to create an enabling environment in order to help businesses thrive.

“We won’t have been where we are today without the local content law. NCDMB has moved to expand local content to other sectors of the economy, which is a good development, but there is an urgent need for the government to focus on creating an enabling environment, which will help businesses thrive, he explained.” Mr Timi Austen-Peters, the chairman of Nigerian Content Consultative Forum (NCCF) group for Fabrication who was also present at the facility visit said, “This is a project that I commend to International Oil Companies (IOCs) and indigenous producers. We need to patronise ourselves instead of taking the jobs out. Hence, we are seeking projects of sufficient scale to capture the market.” He further added, “we are looking at having an MoU among fabricating companies and other companies with complimentary services in order to create a more formidable entity, such that we can take on the mega projects instead of exporting jobs without regard for the teeming youth population in the country.