By Hamilton Nwosa(Head, The New Diplomat Business Desk)
As the Federal government aims to clamber, in phases out of the pandemic, and focus on key concentric circles, experts say it would take a slow challenging process with mainly companies and organizations that are already technically prepared with next-generation capabilities remaining not only competitive but also most valuable and essential in their various competitive sectors.
And with Nigeria’s determination and vision to leverage her rich hydrocarbon deposits in order to take the nation to the next level agenda in the now globally challenging Oil and Gas Sector, one company that has shown resilience, expertise, rich experience and high technical capabilities using next-generation technology to deliver on projects, is Lee Engineering.
Creditably, following the Federal government’s commitment to the Nigerian Local Content Act which seeks to promote indigenous technological capabilities in the Oil and Gas Sector, Lee Engineering is currently building a gigantic, next-generation production facility in Warri, Delta State with installed capacity of manufacturing high-volume industry equipment such as pressure vessels , heat exchangers, process skids, tanks and other oil and gas tools that would help transform the industry.
Given that the investment in the gigantic fabrication technical capability facility is estimated to be worth over $100 million coupled with Lee Engineering’s proven next generation technology-enabled capabilities and excellent experience in handling major projects execution and delivery, a terrain hitherto left for major multi-national companies, there is no doubt that the Group Executive Chairman and CEO of Lee Engineering and Construction Company Limited, Chief Leemon Ikpea who has piloted the organization to an enviable height, is now leveraging upon next-generation technology and capabilities to advance to the next level in a new world order. This new world is being determined as one driven by post-covid pandemic enabled technological and production capabilities.
Backed with a dedicated, competent and experienced team, the company which started from a humble beginning has consistently built up its esteemed reputation in the competitive industry. As at today, it has executed major projects and is now looking to deepen industry capacities, capabilities and expertise by sending well over 40 of its key experts overseas for further training in Belgium and Netherlands to further their technological know-how on the operations of Lee Engineering’s technology-enabled latest facilities.
With some of its technical partners as VDL KTI to give fillip to the initiative, the company is not just keying into only the local content policy of the Federal government, it is now seriously interested in and has also keyed into the the Nigerian Gas Flare Commercialisation Programme (NGFCP). It may be recalled that among the key priorities of the Buhari administration is the completion of the Nigerian Gas Flare Commercialization Programme, which remains paramount with associated gas focused deliverables that include deepening domestic gas penetration and adoption, among others.
It would be recalled that the Ministry of Petroleum Resources in recognition of Nigeria’s unsustainable high annual flare volumes of over 2 million tonnes of LPG had indicated that it expects that when it is fully through with the Nigerian Gas Flare Commercialization Programme, it would have effectively positioned Nigeria on the road to a deepened domestic gas usage and adoption.
Analysts and energy experts aver that whereas NGFCP is approaching the strategic stage in the gas flare commercialization bidding process, the Ministry of Petroleum Resources has been engaging global investors in gas development in line with the commitment of the current administration’s accelerated drive to complete that phase. The Ministry of Petroluem Resources had, late last year, held an investment road-show in Houston Texas, United State of America (USA), where the Program Manager of the NGFCP, Mr. Justice Derefaka, addressed prospective gas investors on the ease of doing business in Nigeria’s gas sector while unveiling the dynamics that exist to pull through .
Consistent with Nigeria’s commitments for reduction of Green House Gases (GHG), the Ministry believes that the Gas Flare Commercialization Program would reduce Nigeria’s CO2 emissions by approximately 13 million tons/year, which could be monetized under an emission credits/carbon sale programme. It has, however, been estimated that about US$ 3.5 billion worth of inward investments by third party investors is required to achieve the gas flare commercialization targets by the end of the year, 2020, thus opening up opportunity for global investors as well as domestic players with the requisite international leverage to come to the table. Fortunately, the ongoing efforts of the Ministry of Petroleum to commercialize gas flare sites will raise output in LPG that will drive both local saturation and exports, an agenda that sits pretty well with bureaucrats in the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and they are said to have bought into it robustly. According to them, this diversification is even more compelling in the light of the need to align with next-generation global oil and gas dynamics arising from the distress in global Oil prices.
Experts maintain that what is critically required now is support for the Federal Government efforts in getting credible investors in order for the Nigerian government to realize the objectives of the NGFCP. In this regard, the Ministry is said to be looking to leverage other international investment outlets to present the road-map of the program to enable international investors across the world appreciate the entry and exit points in a post-covid -19 development and economic setting.
The New Diplomat checks show that Nigeria’s Minister of State for Petroleum, Chief Timipre Sylva had earlier been selected, among key global competitors to present and showcase this program’s roadmap and opportunities at this year’s Canadian Oil and Gas Conference originally scheduled to hold in Alberta, Canada which has been postponed indefinitely on account of the Covid-19 pandemic . Industry experts while applauding this initiative, stressed that it’s a good starting point for the campaign given the fact that both Canada and Norway are the two internationally respected countries that have successfully addressed issues relating to gas flaring leveraging next generation technology to advantage.
In this regard, Lee Engineering Limited, as one of the foremost independent contracting Groups for Engineering, Procurement & Construction (EPC) and Project Management; as well as Construction liaison representatives for clients committed or inclined towards constructing projects of significant worth in various industries such as Power sector, Oil and Gas Industries, Aviation etc. readily comes to mind as many jurisdictions, including Nigeria gradually relaxes its lockdown restrictions for business.
With its international partners, and its rich history of projects delivery coupled with excellent technical capabilities, Lee Engineering is said to be already also looking in the direction of gas flare commercialization. It hopes to leverage upon its next generation technological capabilities and experience to drive major projects in this direction through successfully.
Lee Engineering is a case study itself. Historically, the company’s multi-gifted EPC workforce makes it a point of duty to build a concerted working affiliation through all disciplines and specialties to realize a shared commitment to project goals, such as minimizing the EPC project realization lead time (that is, time between the project initiation and the completions), improving Service Quality Level. This explains why Lee Engineering has been able to successfully execute a sizeable number of EPC projects.
They are said to be well over 300. Some of them include but not limited to the following: Ituru Gas Line Project On OML 34 which was previously producing 260 million cubic of gas per day, but after it was upgraded, it currently produces 370 million cubic of gas per day; Performance Improvement Project to meet the West African Gas Pipeline (WAGP) – Pipeline specification, a project which was executed for Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC); the facility was divested to Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) and ND Western. Recall that shortly after Lee Engineering completed the project from 2007 to 2012, it were assigned the role of O and M to operate the facility, which was done satisfactorily between 2012 to 2016 until it was handed over to ND Western and NPDC who are currently owners of the facility.
There are the Ogbotobo North project, a very big project, which the company has also delivered; Jones Creek, Gbaran ,and also recently Lee Engineering completed the Ogbotobo Floating Barge Flow Station facility, a project delivered on record time; the Ughelli East Gas Plant Project, the Gbaran North Special project for Shell , and the Atlas Cove project for NNPC. These later projects, among others on-going are some projects which the company is currently executing satisfactorily to the admiration of clients.
Equally as important as Project Engineering and Construction is the procurement aspect. With international and inland value chains of industrial supply markets developing at an unprecedented pace, it is increasingly becoming crucial for organizations to seek to partner sourcing consulting agencies that truly understand the market, technically equipped to provide clients the most viable, economical and inexpensive sources for their construction projects and in general, fully grasps the true cost of doing business.
As the world deals with the multi-faceted impact of gas flaring on a global scale and the different approach and dynamics being employed by researchers to measure gas flared and its resulting emissions, Lee Engineering’s next-generation production facility in Warri, Delta State will be dedicated to producing high pressure vessels, heat exchangers, water bath heaters, glycol, skits, scrubbers, process modules, tanks and flare systems as well as carry out maintenance on existing pressure/process vessels and their components.
Noting that around the oil and gas sector, most production is done outside the shores of this country, Lee Engineering with its next-generation technical production capabilities holds a lot of promise for Nigeria, local indigenous technology, employment boost and country’s self-sufficiency.
