Nigeria’s Minister of Petroleum Resources in charge of Oil, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, has announced the ban on the importation of oil pipelines into Nigeria.

Speaking at the launch of Monarch Alloys 33LPE and concrete weight coating facility in Lagos state on Thursday, the minister stated that the Nigeria has to stop importing pipelines and patronise local producers.

Lokpobiri told the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board not to give waivers for the importation of Chinese pipelines any longer.

While acknowledging that pipelines are very important to the oil and gas industry, he said one of the reasons the NCDMB was created was to enable Nigerian companies to build capacity to service the industry.

He expressed happiness that for the past 15 years, Monarch Alloys had laid a solid foundation, expressing concerns, however, over its sustainability.

“I’m very happy that companies like this are now springing up in Nigeria.

But what is more important is not what all of us are getting here to witness. What is more important is the sustainability of this company. If this company is not patronised by companies in the oil and gas industry, this company will die naturally.

“In the past, Nigeria used to be a dumping ground for companies importing these pipes from China. I also do know that a couple of companies like this were set up and they found it very difficult to survive because we allowed dumping to take place.

“Let me take this opportunity to say today that under the leadership of President Bola Tinubu, dumping will be no more. We have a duty to support our industries to grow and render the services that are relevant to the survival and sustainability of the oil and gas industry,” the minister said.

GIK/APA