NNPC Plans $6bn Petro-Chem Plants

The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Engr Austen Oniwon, has unfolded plans to float three petrochemical plants worth 6 billion dollars ($6billion) in the country.

Represented by Port Harcourt Refining Company’s (PHRC) Managing Director, Engr Tony Ogbuigwe during the second Port Harcourt international oil and gas conference and exhibition 2011 which took place in Port Harcourt last week said the feasibility studies of these plants estimated to cost over $6 billion had been concluded, stressing that ‘ “we are ready to act on this very important project”

He also disclosed that the Federal Government had ordered NNPC to set up three refineries as the private licence owners had failed to set up even one for over six years though the corporation had  given reasons for the delay.

The NNPC boss revealed that some of the plants would have  a production capacity of 400,000 tonnes methanol and other petrochemical products like olefins and ethanol.

On the failure of private refineries in the country, Engr Oniwon said the failure was due to too many problems and the chief among them was government’s continued subsidy of petroleum products, adding that this makes it impossible for the private investors to complete unsubsidised ones given the high cost of crude oil.

According to him, the refineries will be floated in Kogi, Lagos and Bayelsa states as government would not sit and watch the demand for petroleum products continue to grow.

He blamed the delay for the take off to the demands by the foreign partners from China, saying “ China wants our arm and leg”

On the blueprint for sustainable development in the oil and gas industry, he  said there would  “optimal supply and utilization of energy resources, to  provide energy security, encourage private sector participation in all spectrum of the energy sector, embarking on a major phase of reforms and expansion in the oil and gas industry, and effort geared towards maximising economic benefits of the nation”.

He added that focus will be on the realisation of the industry’s full potentials, facilitate link with other sectors of the economy, ensuring greater participation of the private sector through liberalisation; entrench platform, for accountability and  transparency; create free trade zones and making the gas master plan integral to the overall reform agenda.

Vivian Peace Nwinaene