Nigeria’s oil and gas logistics profile received a boost on Thursday as the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) applauded ESSO Nigeria for breaking ground on a permanent shorebase facility at the LADOL Deep Offshore Logistics Base.
The $23m development, located at the Lagos-based offshore logistics hub, will comprise an administrative block, warehouses and additional storage infrastructure. ESSO Nigeria is an affiliate of ExxonMobil.
Speaking at the ceremony, the NCDMB Executive Secretary, Engr Felix Omashola Ogbe, described the project as clear evidence that Nigeria has matured into a credible global hub for deep offshore logistics.
He congratulated both ESSO and LADOL, reaffirming the Board’s commitment to working with industry players to strengthen capacity across the upstream supply chain.
Ogbe, represented by his Senior Technical Adviser, Engr Austin Uzoka, praised LADOL’s long-standing record of consistency and forward momentum, saying that the facility’s emergence as a reliable deep offshore base offered a practical response to long-standing vulnerabilities in Nigeria’s logistics ecosystem.
He placed the investment within the context of ongoing global supply chain disruptions linked to instability in the Middle East, which he said had driven up logistics costs across markets, from Singapore to Eko Hotel, with few economies spared.
Drawing parallels between the commissioning of the Dangote Refinery and the steady expansion of LADOL, the NCDMB chief said Nigeria’s supply chain resilience was “measurably stronger” than it was a decade ago.
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He urged ESSO to adopt a front-end-loaded payment structure in its contracts with LADOL, arguing that early and adequate funding would allow the project to be delivered on schedule without reliance on high-interest bank loans.
Cash flow pressures, he lamented, had become a recurring challenge for Nigerian suppliers, often driven by payment timelines that lag project execution.
Supply chains, Ogbe stressed, remain central to national development, adding that the NCDMB would continue to deepen partnerships with both ESSO and LADOL to expand local capacity.
The Chairman and Managing Director of ExxonMobil affiliates in Nigeria, Jagir Baxi, said the project was a notable milestone in ESSO Nigeria’s 70-year relationship with the country.
Baxi added that the facility would enhance Nigeria’s deepwater operational capabilities, with construction to be carried out largely by Nigerian firms, supporting local jobs and skills development.
The event drew representatives of the Bank of Industry, senior executives of ESSO Nigeria, and LADOL management led by Amy Jadesimi, alongside officials from the Nigeria Customs Service, the Nigeria Immigration Service and other government bodies.