Danish Group to Provide Facilities to Tackle Oil Spillage
The Managing Director of DESMI Africa Limited, Leslie Andrews, has said that the company plans to provide facilities that will help Nigeria address oil spillage in the Niger-Delta region.
Andrews, who disclosed this in Lagos at a media briefing, said that the company would provide the facilities through its local partners and will train Nigerians that will operate the equipment.
He stated that a recent market research by his company revealed that oil companies in Nigeria and the federal government are not satisfied with just procuring oil spillage facilities, but they are eager to see full service delivery.
According to him, “In addition to supplying facilities, they want a company that can maintain the facilities, and conduct response training for Nigerians on how to clean up the oil spills. This is the service side of the business. We have taken a decision with our partners that we will be carrying out the cleanup of oil spills in Nigeria.
“We cannot be resident here in Nigeria. Our local partners will become the face of DMSI in Nigeria to deliver all the services. For the first time, we have the company that will give Nigeria all the services that it requires in the areas of maintenance, training and technical support.”
In his remarks, the Chief Executive Officer, Axflo Oil and Gas Limited, Donald Brown, said that DMSI discovered that there was a gap in offshore response in the response service industry.
He stressed that as a group, they have been very active in offshore response, lamenting that there is no viable local company working in this area.
Brown added that because of the gap observed, the Danish Government and DMSI have thrown their weight behind local partners (Samdus Oil and Gas Limited and Axflo Oil and Gas Limited) to provide these offshore response services to reduce capital flight.
“Often times, when we have a second tier response, the International Oil Companies (IOCs) and the money we produce in this country is not domiciled here. For me, I consider it as capital flight. We are trying to build enough capacity to ensuring that each time there is spill, we don’t need to go far to get expertise to tackle it. In few months to come we are certain to have the required off shore service in Nigeria,” he added.
In a related development, the Denmark Ambassador to Nigeria, Torben Gettermann, in a statement said looking at the wider perspectives of commercial relations and business ventures the potential for cooperation is huge.