The Federal Government has announced a ban on the importation of oil pipelines into Nigeria.

The Minister of Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, stated this on Thursday during the launch of Monarch Alloys 33LPE and concrete weight coating facility in the Ikorodu area of Lagos State.

According to Lokpobiri, the country has to stop importing pipelines to 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.

Speaking to the NCDMB team, he noted, “I’m very happy that I see the entire NCDMB family seated here. The ES is here. I saw all the directors who are here. Let me use the opportunity to publicly say that, look, there should be no more waivers to bring in Chinese pipes.

“The pipes the industry needs are right here in Monarch Alloys Limited. And what I see and the complaints I get is that, instead of implementing a local content act, what is being done is that waivers are being given for Chinese products to be brought in, thereby killing companies like this one. That’s why I’m saying it’s very important for us to gather here today.

“I want to see how, in the next year, this company will grow. You know, in its capacity to be able to provide services, not just to Nigeria, but the entire African continent. The whole of Africa is looking up to Nigeria for services, for knowledge sharing. Whatever you think about the oil and gas industry, the rest of Africa is looking up to Nigeria. And for Nigeria, one of the most fundamental problems we have is the integrity of our pipelines.”

The oil minister maintained that Nigeria can easily produce 3 million barrels of oil per day, but the challenge is that the pipelines are old.