Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, a leading construction firm, has been awarded the contract to build the Oloibiri Museum and Research Centre (OMRC) in Bayelsa State.
President Muhammadu Buhari’s Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved the project’s contract on Wednesday.
According to a statement released by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), the project will begin before the end of the first quarter of this year and will be completed in 30 months.
The museum and research center will fill a significant gap in the country’s search for indigenous technology inputs to support exploration and production activities in the Nigerian oil and gas industry.
Shell D’Arcy discovered commercial quantities of crude oil in Oloibiri, Bayelsa State, about 66 years ago.
The establishment of OMRC has been in the concept stage for more than three decades, and the inability to move forward to the construction phase is viewed as a historical oversight, as an operational museum and research center would preserve the heritage and developments in the oil and gas sector, similar to what occurs in other oil-producing nations.
According to the project’s details, it has four development partners: NCDMB, the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF), Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC), and the Bayelsa State Government, who will contribute 40, 30, 20, and 10%, respectively, to the monument’s development.
The project team for the symbolic project was first launched in August 2020 by Mr Timipre Sylva, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, with the formation of key project committees and the establishment of delivery timelines.
The project’s historical essence is to transform the site of the first oil discovery into a monumental edifice that will preserve the heritage and developments in the oil and gas sector. The project’s socioeconomic impact includes job creation, tourism, R&D, and the integration of oil and gas host communities into the country’s mainstream development narrative.
