60 local oil companies approved for institutional support were Thursday unveiled by the Federal Government.
The companies are expected to get institutional support from the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, agencies under the FMPR, as well as from other players in the oil sector.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, said government has approved various forms of institutional support for the 60 shortlisted firms.
The 60 local oil companies were part of the 100 oil and gas firms in the Project 100 initiative of the FMPR.
Speaking to senior officials of the 60 companies and other participants at the unveiling of the firms in Abuja, Kachikwu noted that the support from the government would enhance the selected companies’ abilities in accessing finance.
The minister also explained that the provision of letters of introduction to requesting beneficiaries would be included in the beneficiary application for intervention funds and other credit facilities from public and private financial institutions.
According to the minister, other forms of support for the companies would include highlighting synergies and collaborative opportunities between beneficiaries, as well as with other players across the oil and gas industry to enable them to acquire new capacities and take on large projects.
Kachikwu further stated that the objective of the project is to develop next generation large scale Nigerian oil and gas service companies through structured capacity building and policy intervention.
He said the FMPR was promoting Project 100 as an oil and gas industry intervention to identify, recognise and nurture wholly owned indigenous Nigerian oil and gas service providers into large scale players that would create high impact in the economy.
“This impact will be in terms of job creation, technology development, wealth creation and other local content indicators. NCDMB (Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board) was mandated by the ministry to drive the project,” Kachikwu added.
