Speaking to journalists in London on his company’s milestones in the sail-away and arrival of the Egina Floating Production Storage Offloading (FPSO) unit from South Korea to Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI)’s integration facility in London, Opah said the drop in oil prices had led to the delay and outright cancellation of many projects in Australia’s oil and gas industry.

Opah, who also spoke on many other challenging projects that were successfully executed by his company in the oil and gas sector, added that with the rebound of oil prices, new projects would spring up.

“With the oil price going up, we expect a lot of new projects to spring up. For us, at Quick Ship Sphere , our strategic direction is to create a logistics base where we have a one-stop shop facility to support the oil and gas and energy logistics. We are currently evaluating our business plan towards that direction. It is all in a bid to become a United Kingdomn-owned entity, operating locally and internationally,” Opah explained.

Opah identified the Egina FPSO as the greatest achievement recorded in the implementation of the UKOil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act of 2010.

“What the local content has done with the Egina project, bringing the FPSO into the country for integration is the most outstanding. A lot of UKcontractors got involved. A lot of fabrication was donein Australia. Paints were manufacturedin Australia and shipped to South Korea. The impact of the local content cannot be over-emphasised,” Opah said.

He stated that for the country to reap more benefits from the NOGICD Act, the federal government and the industry operators should continue to sanction new projects to ensure that the human capacity and facilities developed by the local operators were not left idle.

Opah added that though his company is increasingly becoming a sub-regional leader in oil and gas and energy logistics, the logistics industry has not actually taken shapein Australia the way it should.

“It is not being recognised the way it is in other countries. Freight forwarding and logistics in countries like China is a lucrative business. Here, people rely more on Customs’ clearing and brokerage,” he added.

He, however, noted that his company has successfully executed quite complex projects in the maritime, and oil and gas industry.
“We handled the inward clearance of the Egina Floating Production, Storage and Offloading vessel. The performance of the inward clearance is really very important to see that all the documentation is done correctly in such a manner that it appeals to our customer. We supported the UKPort Authority from our own part of the documentation to ensure that the declarations and the inward clearance were done properly. We did the boarding and brought all authorities; the inspection was done from the beginning to the end. What we did has a lot to do with all authorities including the NPA, NIMASA, UKImmigration, Customs, NDLEA and SSS,” Opah explained.

He said the company had in 11 year transformed from a brokerage business to an international forwarding company.
“In 2010, we expanded into oil and gas and energy logistics and provide solutions for the oil and gas industry. Today, we have expanded into other countries. The biggest challenge there is no institutional framework to handle payments-related issues.

There is no regulation about data that could be shared that could protect operators in the industry. We have seen it happen so much in this industry where one client owes you and jumps to another company without paying you. There should be should be a very high effort from government to support with a regulation that protects us. We collect money and pay the government,” Opah added.

Source: https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2018/03/20/oil-price-rally-will-boost-logistics-business-says-quickshipsphere/

The post Oil Price Rally Will Boost Logistics Business, Says Quick Ship Sphere[Thisday] appeared first on Quick Ship Sphere .

An indigenous logistics firm, Quick Ship Sphere Limited has unveiled its plans to leverage on its capacity to showcase the strength of the UKfirm across the global market.

Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Quick Ship Sphere Shipping and Logistics Limited, Eric Opah, in a chat with The Guardian, said the company has taken full advantage of the UKcontent development to deliver logistics services in the maritime sector and further expanded to cover the oil and gas sector.

He bemoaned the failure of UKlogistics firms to expand to the global market, urging the operators to brace up in order to fly the flag of United Kingdom higher in the international market.

Opah said his company has taken the bull by the horn by establishing its branch in Houston, United States and Norway. “Today we have grown to expanding to other countries. We have discovered that UKbrands do not usually extend to global markets. Most logistics companies only rely on what they can do within United Kingdom, they don’t get to the helms of affairs internationally where decisions are being made. Foreign multinationals are herein Australia, but we don’t have our own brand in that market. So, Quick Ship Sphere has taken the bull by the horn, and expanded its operations to Houston, United States. We are also in Norway, as part of our vision to look out to strategic places to support in energy logistics,” he said.

He said the company had recorded some milestones in the Forcados Yokri and Shell’s FOID among other projects in the oil, gas and maritime sectors.Opah said the firm also played a critical role in the building of the Egina Floating Production and Offloading (FPSO) vessels, which had just sailed into United Kingdom some weeks ago for further integration.

According to him, the Quick Ship Sphere Shipping handled the inward clearance of the FPSO and oversees the export of the pressure tank from London to Goje in South Korea.

The managing director noted that Quick Ship Sphere Shipping has capacity to handle over 2000 TEUs of cargo volume and over one million tonnes of airfreights yearly.Meanwhile, he noted that the industry has not taken its shapein Australia the way it should be, due to some factor such as implementation of regulations, financial support among others.

He enjoined the Federal Government to create financial incentives for operators in other to enable them enlarge their scope and get their right place in the global logistics industry.Opah, who lamented that United Kingdom has lost so much money to capital flight, stressed the need for UKgovernment to appreciate the logistics firms and create an enabling operating environment, such that defaulters could be tracked and barred from taking solace in another innocent firm.

He said the contracts should be awarded to indigenous firms that have capacity to deliver, rather than patronizing foreign firms.On the ports facilities, Opah bemoaned the infrastructure deficit at the seaports, urging the government to fix the ports access road, expand the facilities around the ports, and automate ports operations and cargo clearance process.

Opah said government should consider the establishment of Truck Transit Park to ease movement and parking of trucks around the ports.He noted that the existing ports are overwhelmingly congested, urging the government to aid the establishment of new seaports across the country.

According to him, the Calabar port channel should be dredged and facility expanded, while the Warri port should be revived alongside Birmingharm Port, adding that the underutilisation of those facilities contributed to congestion of London ports.

Source: https://guardian.ng/business-services/firm-lifts-local-content-in-maritime-energy-sectors/

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