The Petroleum Technologies Association of Nigeria (PETAN) has honoured Shell companies in Nigeria with the Aret Adams Award for Excellence in recognition of their “outstanding contributions to the development of local content in the Nigerian oil and gas industry.”

PETAN, comprising 89 indigenous companies in the upstream sector of the oil and gas industry, announced the recognition at the 2017 award night in Lagos, the third corporate laurel to be won by Shell from the organisation. Shell had won PETAN’s Local Content Operator of the Year awards in 2013 and 2015.

Speaking at the awards ceremony, PETAN President, Bank-Anthony Okoroafor acknowledged the leadership role of Shell Companies in Nigeria in local content development and said the award was well deserved. He added, “Indigenous companies look to leveraging growth opportunities in the industry.”

Speaking later, the Managing Director of Shell Nigeria Exploration and production Company Ltd (SNEPCo), Bayo Ojulari, who represented Shell companies in Nigeria. thanked PETAN for the recognition.

He said: “At Shell, we see local content as a critical business enabler, not just a regulatory requirement, and that is why we took cogent steps to encourage community and Nigerian contractors even before the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act was enacted in 2010. Today, these steps have matured as contracts and funding and other capacity building initiatives as well as highly rewarding collaborative engagements with Nigerian oil and gas professionals in Scotland and suppliers in China. We are pleased that the milestones have been recognised by PETAN and other organisations.”

The Lagos event also featured awards to other intentional oil companies and Nigerian service providers.

Shell Companies in Nigeria awarded 94 percent of their total number of contracts to Nigerian companies in 2016, with the total value amounting to $0.74 billion.

In a related development, 110 persons have completed the Shell/PETAN Internship Programme designed to support efforts towards tackling the shortage of competent manpower in some critical disciplines in the oil and gas industry, with emphasis on geology and engineering.

Speaking at the graduation of the third batch of the programme in Port Harcourt on Thursday, Managing Director of The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) and Country Chair, Shell Companies in Nigeria, Osagie Okunbor said the collaboration with PETAN was targeted at fresh graduates on an annual basis. “This is achieved through exposure to rich technical on-the-job work experience, designed to equip the participants with practical industry experience and to position them more favourably for employment after the 12-month internship,” he said.

Represented by the General Manager External Relations, Igo Weli, the SPDC MD also announced the commencement of the fourth batch of the programme.

The Shell/PETAN Internship Programme commenced in 2014 and about 50 percent of the 110 beneficiaries from the first to third batches have been employed by some PETAN member companies.

•Photo shows General Manager External Relations, The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited, Igo Weli; President, Petroleum Technologies Association of Nigeria (PETAN), Bank Anthony Okoroafor; Managing Director, Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo), Bayo Ojulari; and SNEPCo’s Nigerian Content Manager, Austin Uzoka, at the PETAN Awards Ceremony in Lagos.

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