National content development

national content video series

For decades, we have employed a variety of economic support and incentive programs for capacity building—collectively referred to as national content development. ExxonMobil focuses on job creation and supporting local businesses, in conjunction with strategic community investments. In doing so, we develop solutions that address current economic and social needs while also contributing to sustainable development in the long term. This is just one aspect of our Best Practices in External Affairs (BPEA) and Production Operations Best Practices that develops local workforce and suppliers as well as enhances our community relationships.

Our approaches to national content development differ between countries as a function of existing infrastructure, industrial base, local supplier capabilities, and local needs. To address the challenge of allowing for flexibility among varying infrastructures and capabilities, while promoting a common language to encourage sustainable capacity building, we developed the National Content Development—Guidelines, Strategies, and Best Practices. The Guidelines are now used by our operations around the world to develop unique, location-specific plans, which are formalized through business processes at the local, regional, and global level.

We are currently in the front-end engineering and design phase of a proposed liquefied natural gas project in Papua New Guinea. When developed, the project could represent the single largest private-sector investment ever undertaken in the country, with projected total direct cash flows of more than $30 billion to the government and landowners during its 30-year lifetime. Integrated cross-functional ExxonMobil teams are in the process of developing a national content plan to maximize the economic and social benefits of the project for the people of Papua New Guinea. The proposed national content plan will include training of the local workforce to participate during project construction and ongoing operations; purchasing local goods and services; building local supplier capacity, with an improved focus on safety and training; and contributing to the development of the communities in the project area by supporting health, education, infrastructure, and agriculture projects.