By John Ikani
The 17-story Nigerian Content Tower (NCT), Headquarters of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Swali, Yenagoa, is set to host oil and gas industry eggheads and policymakers as the yearly Practical Nigerian Content (PNC) Forum 2023, 12th edition, kicks off on 4th December.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri and his Gas counterpart, H.E. Hon. Ekperikpo Ekpo would lead other big wigs of the oil and gas industry heading to Yenagoa for one of the biggest events in the calendar of the oil and gas industry.
The Ministers are expected to deliver ministerial addresses and to show the direction of the Federal Government’s thinking concerning Nigerian Content and investment strategies.
The PNC is hosted by the NCDMB in partnership with DMG Events and Bayelsa State Government and this year’s edition is slated to open with an invitational golf tourney and welcome dinner – the first of the three gala nights that would be sponsored by Coleman Wires and Cables, the Bayelsa State Government and the Nigeria LNG Ltd, to be closed on Thursday, December 7, 2023 with a visit by delegates to the facility of MG VOWGAS in Port Harcourt, River State.
Some of the presentations that will be received at the PNC include the opening keynote address by the host of the event and Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Engr. Simbi Kesiye Wabote, while the Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Engr. Gbenga Komolafe, and Chief Executive, Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Authority (NMDPA), Engr. Farouk Ahmed, alongside other key industry figures, would feature prominently in the 4-day event.
Also, the Group Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Mallam Mele Kolo Kyari is also expected to grace the PNC as he had always done in previous years.
Major international oil companies (IOCs), members of the Independent Petroleum Producers Group (IPPG), and service companies would be actively participating in the four-day conference, with their chief executive officers functioning in one capacity or the other, principally as moderators of panel discussions or panellists or delivering papers on critical subjects relating to local content practice in the oil and gas industry.
For the 2023 edition, key subjects for the panel sessions centre around “Providing an Enabling Environment for Investment in the Energy Sector,” “Opportunities in Decarbonisation and Domestic Gas Utilization,” “Deepening Nigerian Content in the Manufacturing Sector,” and “Financing a Thriving Midstream Sector for Socioeconomic Development,” and Sustainable Framework for Human Capacity Development.” Presentations on R&D Success Stories are also expected.
In addition to the expansive exhibition, the PNC Forum affords prospective investors and clients as well as fund managers an interactive platform with key Federal Government officials overseeing the oil and gas sector, key industry operators and service providers, and chief executives of the regulatory agencies.
Among the industry players, a major activity is the evaluation of their performances in local content practice and the consideration of appropriate adjustments aimed at better results.
To be showcased are opportunities for collaboration and partnership between the public sector and private business interests and between the private sector and academia; also, emerging opportunities from divestments by IOCs and the decarbonisation drive in the industry.
