[syslog-ng]Syslog -> Oracle Database

So I am considering moving my syslog-ng entries into Oracle. I've found the scripts to do that, but still working with our DBAs on it. One question I had, do we need an Oracle client on the syslog-ng server? With MySQL you can connect to a remote SQL server using the script directly. The Oracle scripts also seem to reference an Oracle Server and port. But my Oracle DBA's seem to think they have to install the Oracle client. Anyone done this before to a remote Oracle server? Thanks Shane