The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has approved 448 expatriate quota slots for foreigners to work in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry in the first half of 2025, as the Federal Government intensifies efforts to achieve 70 per cent local content participation in the sector.
The approvals, covering January to June 2025, allow foreign experts to fill specialised roles where local capacity is unavailable, reflecting the industry’s continued dependence on foreign expertise despite ongoing local content reforms.
A breakdown shows that 246 expatriate quota (EQ) requests were approved in the first quarter, with 202 approvals in the second quarter, totalling 448 within six months. This represents an 18 per cent decline compared to 549 approvals issued by the board in the first three quarters of 2024. Additionally, 158 temporary work permits were granted within the period, while 319 EQ requests were rejected, indicating a stricter approach to protecting local jobs.
The approvals come amid concerns by stakeholders over the misuse of expatriate quotas, with allegations that multiple government agencies independently grant approvals. In March, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) clashed with Sterling Oil, accusing the company of breaching local content regulations by employing foreign nationals without due process—a dispute later resolved with a commitment to hire more Nigerians.
NCDMB Executive Secretary, Felix Ogbe, noted that before the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act, local content in the sector was below five per cent, with the country losing an estimated $380 billion in capital flight over 50 years and missing out on millions of potential jobs. However, through collaborative efforts since 2010, local content has grown to 56 per cent as of February 2025, with over 50,000 jobs created and major projects like the $5 billion NLNG Train 7 achieving 50 per cent in-country execution.
Meanwhile, the Special Adviser to the President on Energy, Olu Verheijen, clarified that recent presidential directives on oil and gas projects are intended to strengthen, not weaken, the Nigerian Content Act by prioritising genuine capacity building and discouraging practices that inflate project costs without adding value.
“What the directives have done is clarify the intent of the Nigerian Content Act to ensure we truly focus on building genuine capacity,” she stated, adding that companies making tangible investments in infrastructure, local employment, and human capital development will be prioritised.
The push for increased local participation aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s agenda to deepen value retention within the economy while gradually reducing reliance on expatriate labour in the oil and gas sector, particularly in specialised technical fields such as offshore engineering, subsea operations, and digital geoscience.
The NCDMB has reaffirmed its commitment to enforcing guidelines on expatriate quotas and skill transfer programmes to drive sustainable growth and capacity within Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.
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