Senate panel seeks expansion of local content act beyond oil, gas
• NGPTC attributes N15.81b profit to transformation
The Federal Government’s focus on modular refineries is to improve local
capacity, create cost cutting technologies and reduce capital flight.The
Minister of State for
Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, disclosed this at the
weekend during the convocation ceremony of the Petroleum Training Institute
(PTI), Effurun, Delta State.
Represented by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum Resources,
Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan, hesaid: “One of
the major policy thrust of the present administration is the development and
engagement of local content. In this regard, PTI’s close collaboration with the
Nigerian Petroleum Development Company, which has been mandated to construct a
model modular refinery, using local materials and technology, cannot be
overemphasized.
“When operational, this refinery would be used for experiential training and
for teaching purposes. By implication, the institute would once again be
involved in the local training and re-training of industry personnel thereby
reducing capital flight in conformity with the change mantra of this
administration in the area of employing cost-cutting measures in the conduct of
government business.”
The minister lamented that the petroleum industry suffered massive
setbacks occasioned by the wanton destruction of oil facilities and
installations. Meanwhile, the newly created Senate Committee on Local Content
said yesterday that it would soon amend the Nigerian Local Content Act 2010 to
make its applicability broader than the present focus on the oil and gas sector
in the overall interest of Nigeria.
Chairman of the Committee, Senator Solomon Adeola (APC, Lagos West), said
“the expansion of the scope of the Act as well as its effective implementation,
in areas like construction, manufacturing and other productive sectors
increasingly dominated by foreigners will not only create job opportunities for
our teeming youths and unemployed graduates but also spur the diversification
of the economy.”
In another development, a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum
Corporation (NNPC), Nigerian Gas Processing and Transportation Company Limited
(NGPTC), has declared a profit after tax of N15.81billion in 2016, saying on
going transformation in the sector is
yielding positive results.
Though the profit was due to the write-back of deferred tax of N8.05
billion in 2015, Chief Operating Officer of NNPC’s Gas and Power Autonomous
Business Unit and Chairman of NGPTC, Saidu Mohammed, at the 22nd annual general meeting at the NNPC
Towers in Abuja said continued support of host communities aided the group’s
achievement.
Mohammed stated that the profit before tax for the year ended 31st
December, 2016 was N24.4 billion as against N20.9 billion in 2015. This
represents an increment of 16.8 per cent, while the profit after tax reduced
from N22.6 billion in 2015 to N15.81 billion in 2016.According to him, earnings
per share reduced from N4,510 in 2015 to N3,163 for 2016.
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