Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — Abia State Government is targeting $25 billion investments in petrochemicals, oil and gas refining at its industrial innovation park in Owaza, Ukwa West Local Government Area of the state.
The industrial park, driven by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, is expected to host modular refineries, fertilizer and petrochemical plants, when completed.
Speaking, Abia State Commissioner for Petroleum and Energy, Prof. Ogbonna Joel, disclosed that Nigeria has been projected to become an international trading hub for refined products in the nearest future.
Joel said it is uneconomical and unjustifiable for Nigeria to export crude oil, when there were numerous by-products from crude oil and gas, such as urea, olefin, paraffin, wax, asphalt, petroleum coke etc., for building materials, electronics, plastics, fertilizers.
The university don, who described gas flaring as “wealth in flames” called for innovation in oil and gas sector, in order to enable the country, derive value from petroleum.
He spoke at the just concluded 6th International Mid/Downstream Oil and Gas Conference organised by NLNG Centre for Gas, Refining and Petrochemical Engineering, University of Port Harcourt in collaboration with World Bank Centre of Excellence in Oilfield Chemicals Research and the Nigerian Society of Chemical Engineering.
He said, “Despite poor utilization of current refineries in the nation, Nigeria has been projected to become an international trading hub for refined products in the nearest future.
“We (Abia State Government) have just acquired 1,000 hectares at Owaza, we want to get modular refineries, fertilizer plants, petrochemicals and we will do the groundbreaking in the next few days.
“Until we break down the molecules into useful by-products, we will not get value for our crude oil and gas. We must be strategic, 90percent of our petroleum consumption are currently being imported, yet we have enough crude.”
The Commissioner further regretted that due lack of innovation and diversification within the oil and gas sector, wrong people have taken over to devastate the environment, making crude oil appear as a curse to the people.
“Because we are not playing in the field. The wrong people have taken over through oil theft and artisanal refining activities.
“What was supposed to be a blessing is now a curse, the environment is finished. In fact, we don’t have a future when you consider the kind of damage that has been done due to the inability to convert the oil and gas into something useful.
“Our refineries since 2014 till date have been unable to produce 40,000 barrels per day, right now the refineries are shut down and we are suffering in the midst of plenty, because of too much waste.”
