Lokpobiri, Ekpo push for collaboration in local content implementation

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri and the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas) Hon Ekperikpe Ekpo yesterday called for collaborative approaches to strengthen local content implementation in the oil and gas.

Speaking at the Nigerian International Energy Summit (NIES 2026) in Abuja, Lokpobiri described local content as basic to the attainment of the growth of African energy and by extension the economy.

He said:  “We had the privilege of becoming Ministers. I hear that today’s edition is dedicated to local content. And local content is so fundamental to Africa’s achievement of our energy, you know, growth as a country.”

The theme of the session was “Local Content: Beyond Compliance: Building African Industrial Powerhouses.”

He recalled that on assumption of office, one of his initial challenges was local content because the cost of the project was higher in Nigeria than elsewhere in Africa.

Lamenting, Lokpobiri said: “And so we had to find a solution. Can’t see the reason why a country that is physically at home will have lower project costs than Nigeria. And so we had to tackle that problem.

“And we found out that the problem was, you know, misapplication of the local content. Literally, I was a senator when the local content law was passed in 2010. And I was a member of the committee.”

Similarly, Ekpo said historically, local content implementation has been driven largely by compliance, meeting prescribed thresholds for contracts, labour, and ownership.

He noted that while this has increased participation, it has not always translated into globally competitive indigenous gas companies, advanced technological capability, or deep and sustainable value retention within our economies.

Ekpo said the session rightly challenged the stakeholders to move beyond compliance toward performance-driven local content, that is, local content that deliberately builds industrial strength and long-term competitiveness.

The minister stressed that in the gas industry, this means developing robust indigenous capacity across engineering and project execution, gas processing, pipeline construction, operations and maintenance, fabrication, LNG and FLNG services, gas-based manufacturing, and downstream utilization. It means ensuring that Nigerian and African companies are not only present in the value chain, but productive, innovative, bankable, and export ready.

Meanwhile, the Permanent Secretary, Mrs Patience Oyekunle said the theme of the dialogue is timely.

According to Director Midstream and Downstream, Irene Ikemba, who represented her, across Africa, the energy future must be deliberately shaped by capability, competitiveness, and shared prosperity.

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She said the summit theme “Energy for Peace and Prosperity: Securing Our Shared Future” speaks directly to the task before us. Energy is not merely a commodity; it is a catalyst for stability, industrialisation, and inclusive growth, and national security.