‘Egina is a Nigeria project, done and engineered by Nigerian companies’

Saipem Contracting Nigeria Limited recently celebrated the load out of the fabricated EGINA UFR module, an occasion described as a landmark for promoting the Nigerian Content Development in the Oil and Gas industry in the country. Guido D’ Aloisio, Managing Director, Saipem spoke to Olusola Bello, Energy Editor, BusinessDay on the significant of the project. Excerpt:

What can you say about EGINA UFR module project?

Today am very pleased with what is happening here, we do these job in an enthusiastic way and the acknowledgement that we received from our entire honourable guest is just a way to improve in our spirit and enthusiasm on it.

Talking about what we do at Saipem, we are already on the second phase of the development.

What Nigeria Content Act is prescribing is to transfer technology from abroad to Nigeria. I must say that we have passed these phases. We are at the second phase where Technology invented in this yard in Nigeria by Nigerians is transferred to all other places.

We are doing technology transfer, not from abroad to Nigeria, but from Nigeria to abroad. I am very happy about this and that we have gotten to the point where welders, filters, quality supervisors, fabrication supervisors among other Nigerians over the years have developed capabilities, capacities and knowledge that can be transferable.

The Egina project is a big sample to show that Saipem will continue to be the biggest player in Nigeria and Africa Oil and Gas sector. Also, having recorded several man hours without any casualty is a significance achievement for us at Saipem.

Egina UFR is a Nigeria project, done and engineered by Nigerian companies. Saipem is proud of this landmark event as the company marks it 50 years existence in 2017. We have been part of history in the Oil and Gas business in Nigeria.

What is the total workforce at the yard?

Today in Nigeria, we have in the range of three thousand five hundred to four thousand people gainfully employed at Saipem.

Are you getting supports from the IOCs companies?

I think the IOCs like Total are very much committed and we are on the same page. They are really supporting us. The Egina project is an outstanding example of good project management and corporation between the various stakeholders.

We have a good corporation between Total, NAPIMS, CIPEM and the Board. We have proven that if we work together in a transparent manner, we can achieve a lot. The project today is on track and it’s been running very safely with high level of safety which is of paramount importance to Saipem.

What about the oversight support from the NNPC? Are you satisfied with the support you get from NNPC?

We have a good corporation with the board of NAPIMS which is our direct contact to NNPC. Together with NNPC and Total we have carried out the Egina UFR project in a very close and cordial corporation.

What is the capacity of the yard?

The capacity of the yard is in the range of 3 to 3.5 million man-hour periods.

What can you say about the Oil and Gas sector in Nigeria?

The Oil and Gas sector is really going down, but there is a lot to do here, because we work in the power sector and I think Nigeria needs a lot of these and therefore, we look at things in a positive way and we hope that we can feed the people that we have in this yard with new project soon.

Are you getting the right support from the government?

There is support from the government, but we still need to understand the plans of the government on this project. I think they are making efforts to make things move and to attract investors as much as they can. There is still a little problem, but am sure by 2017, we will see a massive activities in the oil and gas sector.

Fifty years of Saipem in Nigeria, what are your achievements?

The achievements, we humbly say that Saipem is an important part of the history of the oil and gas business in the country. Two thousands kilometers of pipeline onshore and offshore have been deployed by us in 50 years. Many wells have been drilled onshore and offshore by the company. Also, power plants, refineries and deep water projects have been done by Saipem. This goes to show a history of success, but we cannot rely on these achievements, we look brightly to still play a significant part of history in the coming years.

Olusola Bello