The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has pledged to promote the development and commercialisation of home-grown technology in collaboration with the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB).
The Group Managing Director of the corporation, Dr Maikanti Baru, made the pledge in a statement by Mr Ndu Ughamadu, NNPC Group General Manager Public Affairs Division, on Friday in Abuja.
Baru was quoted to have made the pledge at the 47th Conference and Annual General Meeting of Nigerian Society of Chemical Engineers in Port Harcourt.
Baru said the collaborative effort with the NCDMB was already manifesting with the joint establishment of research clusters that will specialize in different areas of the oil and gas activities.
“The new operating philosophy should lay emphasis on in-country manufacturing, job creation, skills development, technology development, capital retention, research and development and fostering sectorial linkages with other critical sectors of the economy in order to drive industrialisation,’” he said.
He alao revealed that the Corporation was currently in collaboration with NCDMB to align the Nigerian Petroleum Exchange portal and the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Joint Qualification System portal, to adequately capture the capacity of local companies.
He called for a closer examination of the compliance level of the extant legislation and policy on Nigerian Content to evolve new models that would shape the policy and legislation on the subject in many areas.
Some of the areas Baru listed include: fiscal incentives to attract foreign direct investment and access to credit facilities. (NAN)
