The U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) is helping Nigeria meet the logistical and engineering needs of its emerging offshore oil and gas industry by providing a grant to support the development of an electronic management platform.

USTDA Director, Leocadia I Zak, signed the grant on Dec. 28, 2012, which was conferred to the Integrated Logistics Free Zone Enterprise (LiLE), a private sector logistics provider in Nigeria.

LiLE supports the country’s oil and gas operations through its Lagos Deep Offshore Logistics Base (LADOL).

LADOL, which is owned and operated by LiLE, is a logistics base strategically located at the entrance to the Lagos harbor. The facility supports 24-hour offshore operations and projects through services like the loading and unloading of ships, cargo handling, equipment manufacturing and personnel billeting.

Since 2000, LADOL has met the needs of Nigeria’s expanding offshore oil and gas exploration and production. In order to maintain an increasing level of service to its oil and gas clients, LADOL is seeking to develop a secure electronic management platform to sustain business operations and future growth. The platform will include an integrated information technology (IT) infrastructure to enable LADOL to track assets, manage personnel identification and audit transactions. The USTDA technical assistance grant will assist LADOL in defining an implementation strategy for new IT systems and infrastructure requirements.

Director Zak described the grant as an opportunity for LADOL to continue its support for Nigeria’s burgeoning deep-water offshore industry as well to connect with U.S. expertise and solutions.

“LADOL is the only Nigerian facility of its kind serving both local and international oil and gas sector companies. USTDA is proud to assist the base’s efforts to expand its operations in order to provide continued logistics support,” stated Director Zak. “The technical assistance grant could also generate significant opportunities for U.S. companies to export IT-related goods and services.”

Source : abdas.org