On Tuesday the 17^th of February 2015, top management of Kaztec Engineering Ltd led by its Chairman, Sir Emeka Offor were at NNPC office in Abuja to make a presentation of Ofrima-Udele Marginal Offshore Field being fabricated for Addax Petroleum by Kaztec Engineering Limited at their snake Island fabrication yard.

After formal introduction by both parties, the Group Managing Director (GMD) of NNPC Dr. Joseph Thlama Dawha gave an opening speech, which centered on welcoming Kaztec management to the NNPC towers. He expressed his happiness with Kaztec especially in the area of competence and local workers involvement, which according to Dr. Dawha “bolsters” the growing confidence in the Local Content Act of the Federal government.

Engineering Facility manager Michael Simpson explaining the Ofrima-Udele offshore field development infrastructure said that the magnitude and innovativeness of the project is “a first” for indigenous Oil & Gas Company. He explained in details how Ofrima-Udele offshore field when completed will be contributing 40,000 barrels per day to the national output which is actually what Nigeria needs at this point in time the country’s crude production is below optimum capacity. The technical and production capacity of Ofrima-Udele oil facility is going to be built with state of the arts equipment which will run on self-automated capacity with the option of switching back to manual control as and when needed. John Niezner, the Managing Director of Kaztec provided extra explanation on the whole worked out plan for the project. He explained that the project could have gulped a whopping sum of over $3.5b but was scaled down to $1.9b covering facilities and drilling. The presentation was followed by both technical and financial questions from the management of NNPC, which were satisfactorily answered by Kaztec team. The visit concluded with the unveiling of Ofrima-Udele model to the management of NNPC; a physical-visual prototype of what the marginal Ofrima-Udele offshore field will look like after completion.

As a follow up and in accordance with oversight function, NNPC management visited Kaztec’s Snake Island Fabrication Yard situated in Lagos to make a visual assessment of activities at the site.  Present at the fab yard were NNPC Group Executive Director, Engineering and Technology, Engr. Adebayo Ibirogba, Acting Group General Manager, Engineering and Technology, Mrs. Bolande Ashafa, Dr. Ajayi Adewale the Acting Group General Manager Engineering and Technology, Kaztec Engineering Facility manager, Michael Simpson, John Niezner, the Managing Director of Kaztec, and many other stake holders. According to John Niezner, “the fabrication of Antan project is nearing completion and fabrication for Ofrima-Udele marginal oil field is expected to commence soon”.

Fielding questions from the press, NNPC GED, Engr. Adebayo Ibirogba said “we are here today to see for ourselves what Kaztec is doing in the Oil and Gas industry, in terms of fabrication, in terms of local content and in terms of their own contribution to the effort to indigenize operations to the greatest extent possible, that is why we are here”. Asked why the team took out time from Abuja to visit Kaztec’s fabrication yard when there are other fabrication yards in Nigeria as well, the GED of NNPC has this to say. “First of all Kaztec is a client and they are already doing some works for us and they are angling even for more work. As we all know, we have some great challenges facing us at this time, we have double challenge of declining crude prices and also declining production. So for us (NNPC) we are looking for value added at every point in the value chain, so when we have indigenous fabricators like this, it is very important that we come to see what they are doing and actually access the extent by which they can improve our own business. We want to produce more oil, we want to convert the oil into petroleum products and to serve the Nigerian people and this is our own contribution in transformation agenda”.

NNPC top management team were impressed at the number of indigenous workers involved in the whole project which is in line with local content Acts. Over three hundred local workers are already directly employed with expected increase to over 5,000 and about 14,000 indirect employment are expected to be generated at the completion of the fabrication yard. 

Obi Enuka Onochie

Media Correspondent

Chrome Group.

 Written by Dr. Edwin Ndukwe

KAZTEC Engineering Limited, a subsidiary of Chrome Group, over the weekend showcased their technical capacity and a dynamic framework for adding real jobs to real Nigerian economy. This was evident when the nation’s leading oil & gas Chiefs visited their bustling fabrication yard located on Snake Island, Lagos.

During the scheduled visit, work on the yard was busier than usual. Engineers, welders, fabricators, Crane operators, logistic and procurement specialists, all collaborated seamlessly to lay the ground work for the anticipated load out of EBUGU BOOSTER COMPRESSOR BC-2.  According to Mr. Marc Robillard, the Commercial Director, KAZTEC currently has about 50 Engineers actively working on the Fab yard and more to come on board; 75 procurement and logistic professionals, 500 skilled labor workforce and 30 project Managers. Direct jobs expected from the fabrication yard are about 5000 and 20000 non-direct jobs by full commission in 2016, said Robillard. That number, KAZTEC management believes will help to lower unemployment in the nation, which is at 20.3 million according to report from National Bureau of Statistics.

KAZTEC’s potential to add more Nigerian’s into the workforce has been echoed by all visitors to the fabrication yard. Speaking to the press while on the island, the Group Managing Director for NNPC, Engr. Andrew Yakubu said, “the present transformation agenda of the President is all about creating capacity and capability and you need human beings to support that initiative and there is no doubt that this will have that effect to achieve it”. Stretching his thoughts further on the opportunities that lies ahead for Nigerians through the massive project undertaken by KAZTEC, he said, “More people will be employed and as we move jobs from outside the country, to key into the local content capacity building opportunity. Capacity building is about the human being, we are going to have quite a number of them participating and ours is to encourage and make sure that this is actualized.”

The GED Exploration & Production for NNPC, Dr. Joseph Darhwa was equally there to make his thoughts known about the ongoing activities at the fabrication yard. “What I have seen so far today is so very very impressive. I mean, all the work that is going on is highly impressive. I heard about this, but coming and seeing it, is believing.  And I am happy to see that all Nigerians are participating in the activity here, he said. “We are quite happy about that. If we can get one or two Nigerian Company doing this kind of activity, I mean it is going a long way in achieving the kind of transformation we want to see in the oil and gas sector”. Dr. Darhwa concluded by saying, “By doing this here, we are creating more jobs, getting more Nigerians involved”.

Written by Dr. Edwin Ndukwe

KAZTEC Engineering Limited, a subsidiary of Chrome Group, over the weekend showcased their technical capacity and a dynamic framework for adding real jobs to real Nigerian economy. This was evident when the nation’s leading oil & gas Chiefs visited their bustling fabrication yard located on Snake Island, Lagos.

During the scheduled visit, work on the yard was busier than usual. Engineers, welders, fabricators, Crane operators, logistic and procurement specialists, all collaborated seamlessly to lay the ground work for the anticipated load out of EBUGU BOOSTER COMPRESSOR BC-2.  According to Mr. Marc Robillard, the Commercial Director, KAZTEC currently has about 50 Engineers actively working on the Fab yard and more to come on board; 75 procurement and logistic professionals, 500 skilled labor workforce and 30 project Managers. Direct jobs expected from the fabrication yard are about 5000 and 20000 non-direct jobs by full commission in 2016, said Robillard. That number, KAZTEC management believes will help to lower unemployment in the nation, which is at 20.3 million according to report from National Bureau of Statistics.

KAZTEC’s potential to add more Nigerian’s into the workforce has been echoed by all visitors to the fabrication yard. Speaking to the press while on the island, the Group Managing Director for NNPC, Engr. Andrew Yakubu said, “the present transformation agenda of the President is all about creating capacity and capability and you need human beings to support that initiative and there is no doubt that this will have that effect to achieve it”. Stretching his thoughts further on the opportunities that lies ahead for Nigerians through the massive project undertaken by KAZTEC, he said, “More people will be employed and as we move jobs from outside the country, to key into the local content capacity building opportunity. Capacity building is about the human being, we are going to have quite a number of them participating and ours is to encourage and make sure that this is actualized.”

The GED Exploration & Production for NNPC, Dr. Joseph Darhwa was equally there to make his thoughts known about the ongoing activities at the fabrication yard. “What I have seen so far today is so very very impressive. I mean, all the work that is going on is highly impressive. I heard about this, but coming and seeing it, is believing.  And I am happy to see that all Nigerians are participating in the activity here, he said. “We are quite happy about that. If we can get one or two Nigerian Company doing this kind of activity, I mean it is going a long way in achieving the kind of transformation we want to see in the oil and gas sector”. Dr. Darhwa concluded by saying, “By doing this here, we are creating more jobs, getting more Nigerians involved”.

Theme: Creating Opportunities through Industry and Community Integration

The 3rd Practical Nigerian Content Exhibition, with the Theme “Creating Opportunities Through Industry and Community Integration” was held at the Banquet Hall, Government House Yenagoa, Bayelsa State from the 19th – 20th November 2013, and had Kaztec Engineering Limited as an active participant.

The welcome message was given by Ernest Nwapa, FNSE, the Executive Secretary Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), in which he emphasized that Nigerian Content is all about domiciliation of work and development of local capacity with its associated benefits in the Oil and Gas sector of the economy and not indigenization as being misconstrued by some persons.

There were panel discussions on the topics bordering around how the industry capacity development initiatives would drive Nigerian Content Development following the end of a Three-Year Waiver Period, and what must be done to improve vital infrastructure, thus further developing the Oil and Gas supply chain and boost industry investment.

One of the major highlights of the event was the panel discussion on how Nigerian Content can develop further over the next three years. Kaztec’s Nigerian Training & Content Manager, Otokpa Agada (PhD) was one of the speakers and he proffered some vital suggestions as to how to bring about that rapid development. He advised that there must be collaboration between the Minister of Petroleum’s office and the NCDMB, and a review system that can continuously evaluate the Nigerian Content Act and problems arising from its limitations. Also, he spoke of Kaztec’s eagerness towards building a robust infrastructural system, thus creating jobs, empowering the youths and adding to the Nation’s Economic Empowerment. Kaztec is building one of the largest training centres in Africa that would be centred on competency-based training.

Kaztec Engineering Ltd had a very successful outing amongst other contenders in the oil and gas industry, considering the huge turnout of guests at our exhibition stand and the exchange of lucrative ideas; Nestoil, Marine Platforms, Oando Energy Services, Aveon Offshore, Tenaris and a host of others were also exhibitors at this event.

The closing remarks were given by Ernest Nwapa, the Executive Secretary NCDMB and H.E, Rear Admiral Gboribiogha John Jonah (Rtd), Deputy Governor Bayelsa State Government.