Samsung\u00a0Heavy Industries (SHI), says it has invested over 400 million dollars in the Nigerian oil and gas industry since the global shipbuilding giant was awarded the contract to build the Floating Production Storage Offloading (FPSO) vessel for the 200,000 barrels of crude oil per day Egina deepwater field.<\/p>\n
The contract for the construction of the FPSO was awarded to Samsung Heavy Industries by French multinational oil firm, Total at the cost of about 3.3billion dollars.<\/p>\n
A top official of the company confirmed\u00a0\u00a0yesterday that through the SHI-MCI FZE,\u00a0a fabrication and integration yard which SHI had established at the LADOL Free Zone\u00a0 Yard at Takwa Bay, Lagos to execute part of the FPSO project,\u00a0 it\u00a0\u00a0had ploughed back over 400 milion dollars into further development of the Nigerian petroleum industry.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince we got the contract for the Egina FPSO, we have contributed about 100 million dollars of tax revenue so far, in addition to providing approximately 300 million dollars of investment into SHI-MCI-FZE, and we have also created jobs, trainings and education for thousands of Nigerians,\u201d added the source who wouldn\u2019t want to be named.<\/p>\n
The source however decried the lingering dispute between Samsung and Global Resource Management Free Zone Company (GRMFZC), LADOL\u2019s free-zone management, which bothers on GRMFZC\u2019s refusal to renew SHI-MCI-FZE\u2019s Operating Licence for the free-zone, urging the Federal Government to wade into the crisis speedily.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe government of Nigeria must take steps to resolve this crisis; it is not just hindering foreign direct investment into Nigeria, but it has far-reaching consequences for the Nigerian economy and its oil and gas industry.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe FPSO has recently commenced capacity delivery, operating at 200,000-barrels a day,\u201d the source explained.<\/p>\n
Government\u2019s intervention is indeed necessary to protect the jobs and livelihoods of over 1,000 Nigerians directly and indirectly employed by SHI-MCI-FZE, to protect the investments in the Nigerian Oil and Gas sector, which is the nation\u2019s principle earner, and to send a message to Nigeria\u2019s international partners that it remains an attractive place to invest and do business,\u201d added the source.<\/p>\n
It further stated that the SHI-MCI free-zone operating licence was unjustifiably terminated by LADOL and that there was no basis for the\u00a0 licence not to be renewable for a term of no less than one year once conditions of the licence are fulfilled.<\/p>\n
It was however learnt that the Nigeria Export Processing Zone Authority (the primary agency responsible for the administration of free zone areas in Nigeria) and the Ministry\u00a0 of Industry, Trade and Investment, had recently stepped into the case to investigate and find ways to resolve whatever are the contentious issues affecting both parties.<\/p>\n
The government intervention,\u00a0 it was learnt, is to help the parties achieve a win-win resolution to the crisis and\u00a0 also to protect the jobs of Nigerian workers.<\/p>\n