As the Nigerian economy struggles with global storms against sliding into recession, the Federal and State governments had since moved from mere rhetorics to actually creating an enabling business environment to attract investments and fast track industrialization. In this report GEORGE OKOJIE and CHIKA IZUORA appraises the revolutionary approaches being deployed by the Dangote Group to rewrite the history of Nigeria oil and gas sector to salvage the nation’s economy.
That the Dangote Group has demonstrated uncommon commitment in laying a concrete foundation to solve the perennial problems in the Nigeria oil and gas sector, which on a larger scale is affecting sub-sectors of the economy, is not in doubt. Thus, it is not surprising that the construction of the Dangote Refinery, Petrochemical plant and gas pipeline project is attracting so much attention.
It is even so when the investments are being heaped in an area the country has been experiencing serious challenges as a result of its business model which is 100 per cent import dependent and the inflow of foreign exchange is not where it used to be.
The feat is widely adjudged to be laudable because before the Dangote Group decided to blaze the trail and commence construction of a refinery project that has largely come close to starting operation on schedule, so many other companies that have secured licences to establish refineries are still struggling with start-off arrangement.
The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) which under the law is saddled with the responsibility to issue licences for refinery operations in the country recently disclosed that it has issued 21 licences to investors to establish new refineries.
Four investors had earlier been issued licences to construct new plants in the country.
The DPR confirmed that there are currently 25 private refinery licences granted to companies with 21 in the Licence to Establish, LTE, category, while four are in the Approval to Construct, ATC, category.”
The agency said that three out of the 25 licensed companies are billed to construct conventional stick-build plants, while 22 will construct modular units with a proposed combined refining capacity of 1,429,000bpd.
But despite that many of the licensees are yet to meet with demands as stipulated in the license, the DPR has not withdrawn the licence of any private refinery. Rather, it said it is in alignment with the Federal Government’s aspiration of improving the country’s refining capacity by strengthening its regulatory oversight function.
As many of the licence holders continue to accuse DPR of shifting the goal post in the middle of the game concerning sourcing of crude, the major raw material, the Dangote Group went ahead to make a statement, with its refinery currently being built in the Lekki Free Trade Zone located in Lekki area of the state.
Commenting on the Dangote Group’s sprawling projects, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo said the project as a whole is an incredible industrial undertaken being the largest and the most ambitious in Africa.
According to him, the Gas Project upon completion has the capacity to produce about three billion cubic feet of gas daily, which would permanently address the two billion cubic feet daily gas required to power the country.
“This is incredible if that can be done because it would be a major strategic asset for Nigeria, It would boost our power supply tremendously,” the Vice President said.
“We have seen the refinery project site. It is meant to refine 650,000 barrels per day. By all projection, it is the largest in the world. It has a petro-chemical plant. It also has fertilizer plant, which is projected to be the largest in the world. There is also a subsea gas pipeline project there. It is an incredible industrial undertaking. It is possibly the largest and the most ambitious on the continent today. It is truly inspiring to see.
“The refinery will take off in the first quarter of 2019. I think the sub-sea gas pipeline, which is very important project, is meant to take off in 2018. That gas pipeline will go all the way from Bonny through Ogedegbe, Olokola to Lekki here and Escravos Lagos pipeline and then West Africa Gas Pipeline.
“That is also meant to product 3 billion cubic of gas daily. That is huge. If you consider our current requirement, it is about 2 billion cubic of gas daily or so. That is incredible. If it can be done, it is a major asset for Nigeria. It will boost our gas supply tremendously. For me, that is the most important project that could be done in this country. It will be a major boost for industrial development.
“If you are taking of the security of the gas pipeline, it is secure. The pipeline is installed under the sea. It is a subsea project. It is fortified and goes into the sea. It is what anybody can go there and vandalise with the way it is designed. It is designed to prevent vandalisation. It is designed very deep into the sea.”
In the same vein, Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode said the refinery, petrochemical, gas and fertilizer projects being undertaken by Africa’s richest man and business mogul, Aliko Dangote at the Lekki Free Zone (LFZ) in Lagos would significantly boost the economy of Lagos and Nigeria in general.
Ambode said the projects would have great multiplier effects on the nation’s economy.
He said, “Firstly, there is a refinery project that is ongoing, second there is a petrochemical project that is also ongoing. There is pipeline transfer project that brings gas from Bonny down to Olokonla and down to Lekki and then the fourth one is the fertilizer project all in one location.”
According to him, the projects would also be critical to the economic growth of the Lagos East and West Senatorial Districts which according to him, will be open to massive investment opportunities on completion.
He assured that his administration would provide the necessary support to ensure that the projects are completed within schedule.
“This is the very first time we are going to have a Petrochemical project that is coming on stream by December 2017; a Refinery that is coming on stream by the first quarter of 2019 and also the Gas project that is coming on stream by 2018. You can just imagine or visualize what that means to the economy of Lagos,” Ambode said.
He added that apart from the 135,000 direct jobs that will be created from the projects, another 100,000 indirect jobs would be generated while income accruable to the Federal Government would be in the region of over $500million in three years.
“It is important that we understand the debt of what has happened here and also use it as a platform to encourage other investors that Lagos is on the rise and the future of Lagos is very bright,” the Governor said.
For the man behind it all, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, the decision to site the projects in Lagos was due to the investment friendly climate in the state.
“Lagos is one state that is very investor friendly and the Governor himself has always been asking what are the issues and he normally put in place steps to resolve those issues immediately,” he said.
He said the Gas Pipeline Project would guarantee uninterrupted power supply in Lagos on completion, adding that it would also positively increase the State’s Gross Domestic Project (GDP).
Dangote further said the projects would also attract other bigger investors into the Zone. He also said the projects would benefit the local communities as at least 65 per cent of people in the catchment area would be employed, while over 1000 would be trained.
“Our target is that in the next five years or so from now, we hope and we believe that half of Nigeria’s crude will be refined and exported rather than just exporting crude to go and create jobs elsewhere,” Dangote said.
The good news is that Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) are in supporting the deregulation of the sector to make the sector vibrant, saying the deregulation of the downstream sector of the oil and gas industry remained the best option to encourage private refining business.
The Executive Secretary of MOMAN, Obafemi Olawore explained that deregulation would bring in investments into the sector, adding that only deregulation would encourage the establishment of private refineries in the country.
No comments:
Post a Comment