The executive secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Denzil Kentebe, has said that the oil and gas industry require over 800,000 metric tons of pipes per annum.

Speaking at a meeting with the investors held at the Board’s headquarters in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State recently,  he listed opportunities for the utilisation of line pipes to include the gas master plan projects, major upcoming engineering, procurement and construction projects as well as the planned replacement of aged pipes used in transporting crude and refined products.

To this end, Kentebe has charged investors in line pipes used in the Nigerian oil and gas sector to accelerate their investments so as to close existing gaps in the local supply chain.

Kentebe stated that the Board had spent considerable time stimulating investments in line pipes and noted that it was high time the firms brought their investments to fruition.

He pledged the Board’s preparedness to assist the companies overcome challenges they may be facing with their projects, urging them to suggest interventions they would require from government.

The Executive Secretary also assured that the Board was committed to realising the Polaku Pipe mill project so as to produce line pipes in-country and demonstrate government’s commitment to the pipe mill initiative.

Remarking, the Managing Director, Brentex Petroleum Service Ltd, Chidi Nzerem, thanked the Board for its support, pointing out that the company had begun extensive work at its pipe mill site in Calabar, Cross Rivers State.

According to him, when completed, the pipe mill would be the largest in Africa with a production capacity of 300,000MT of pipes. He also confirmed that his company had acquired 65 per cent of the equipment required to start production which has already been shipped Calabar.