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The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has announced the imminent start of construction at the Ondo oil and gas park, a low-cost manufacturing hub for equipment components and spare parts used in the hydrocarbons industry.

Situated in the Ilaje area of Ondo State, the park is one of six manufacturing hubs being built in different parts of the country under NCDMB’s Nigerian Oil and Gas Park Scheme (NOGAPS), which aims to boost local content in the oil and gas sector. 

Two hubs, located at Odukpani in the Cross River State and Emeyal 1 in Bayelsa State, are at 99% completion and firms have already begun to set up shop there.

The other three at Ughelli, Delta State, Oguta, Imo State, and Ikwe-Ona in Akwa-Ibom State are at varying stages of development. 

The parks form a core part of NCDMB’s 10-year strategic roadmap, aimed at increasing domestic content in the oil and gas industry to 70% by 2027.

Developed in partnership with UK/Dutch Shell, the US’ ExxonMobil and Nigerian Agip Oil Company, the NOGAPS parks will accommodate manufacturing shop floors and factories; warehouses; training centres; mini park estates; fire stations; truck parking and holding spaces; hostels and administrative blocks. 

The goal is to reduce the import of equipment and spare parts for oil industry operations. 

NCDMB has announced it will offer benefits for the first original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), service companies and other oil and gas firms that set up operations in the Ondo oil and gas park. 

Speaking at the Develop Ondo 2.0 Investment Summit in July, Patrick Daziba Obah, the board’s director of corporate services, told investors that Ondo is resource-rich and investment-friendly, and the government is looking to attract US$2 billion of investment to the state.

He drew attention to investment opportunities in the ongoing development of an inland gas corridor, the Ondo port project and Ondo industrial city, which is envisaged to have a free trade zone status. 

In May, the federal executive council approved the operating licence for Ondo port, talks for which had been ongoing for years. The port is expected to cost US$1 billion to build and will be completed using a public-private partnership. 

Photo: The Develop Ondo 2.0 Investment Summit (Source: NCDMB)