By Hamilton Nwosa (Head, The New Diplomat’s Business Desk)
As the Federal government aims to increase the country’s local content policy from its present 30 per cent to 70 per cent by 2027 in order to create more opportunities and jobs for the unemployed in Nigeria, and focus on key concentric areas, experts maintain that it would entail mainly companies and organizations that are already technically prepared with next-generation capabilities and skills that would be central, most valuable and pivotal to the realization of this essential policy plan.
The Minister of State for Petroleum, and former governor of Bayelsa State, Chief Timipre Sylva who emphasized the significance of the Federal Government plan to enlarge the country’s local content policy from its present 30 per cent to 70 per cent by 2027 underlined the rationale behind the current president Muhammadu Buhari-led administration’s scheme to consistently encourage and patronize indigenous oil and gas companies.
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Chief Sylva who highlighted the logic behind this scheme as part of the larger strategy to boost the technical capabilities and skill-set of indigenous oil and gas companies in Nigeria while growing jobs in the industry, applauded the leadership, management and staff of LEE Engineering and Construction Company Limited for its dedication and adherence to the protocols and implementation of the Federal government’s Local Content Act .
The Minister who stated this when he led a team of senior officials of the Nigerian ministry of petroleum ministry on an official tour of Lee Engineering and Construction Company Limited’s state of the art facilities at its Ekpan, Uvwie Local Government Area of Delta State operational base described the organization as a trendsetter and a groundbreaker whose innovative contributions to the nation’s oil and gas sector is commendable.
Recall that Chief Sylva and his team, who were conducted round LEE Engineering’s state of the art facilities by the Executive chairman of Lee Engineering and Construction Company Limited, Chief( Dr). Leeman Ikpea expressed satisfaction with the company’s facilities including its ultra-modern manufacturing and fabrication workshop which has reached advanced stages of completion.
On his part, Chief Ikpea underscored the importance of the gigantic ultra-modern manufacturing and fabrication project equipped with the state of the art facilities, saying that when fully operational, it would manufacture heat exchanges, pressure vessels, process skids, tanks, valves, fittings, among other vital tools for use in the oil and gas industry.
Truly, experts contend that one company that has truly shown resilience, expertise, rich experience and high technical capabilities using next- generation technology to deliver on projects, is Lee Engineering, and that its decision to establish an ultra-modern manufacturing and fabrication workshop in the Niger Delta region shows its excellent commitment to the Nigerian Local Content Act which seeks to promote indigenous technological capabilities in the Oil and Gas Sector.
Industry watchers aver that Lee Engineering next-generation production facility in Warri, Delta State which has attained near completion, 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 significantly 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 critical, 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.
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Backed with a dedicated, competent and experienced team, the company which started from a humble beginning in Warri, Delta State 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.
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.
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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.
