Business News -The Federal Government of Nigeria said it is set to commence construction of Nigeria's first gas industrial park in the second quarter of 2013. Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, at the 8th International Gas Conference & Exhibition in Abuja, yesterday, said the first phase of the initiative would be located at Ogidigbe in Delta State.
The minister, who was represented at the occasion by the Group Executive Director, Gas and Power, Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. David Ige, said government's aspiration was for site activity to commence in the second quarter of 2013, with a view to completing the first phase of the plants by 2016 or 2017.
"The first of phase of this initiative is located at Ogidigbe in Delta state, where Nigeria's first purpose built gas industrial park will be located. The projects are at varying levels of development as will be presented shortly. Our aspiration is for site activity to commence in Q2 2013 with a view to completing the first wave of the plants by 2016/17," she stated.She stated that at the peak of construction activities, over 150,000 people would be employed directly on-site for all sorts of construction jobs, adding that the location would be one of the largest construction sites in the country with significant concurrent activities going on for several years to come.
According to the minister, Nigeria's gas revolution is anchored on a few primary investors, including Nagrjuna of India for the 2.6PTPA Urea plant, Xenel of Saudi Arabia for the 1.3MTPA Polyethylene Plan and 400KTPa Plypropylene plant. Others include Chevron/Shell/NNPC/Sahara for the 2.2 bcf/d gas processing facility and Agip/Oando/NNPC for the 800mmcf/d gas processing facility. Mrs. Alison-Madueke, who called for collaborative efforts among all stakeholders, said there would be expansion of the industrial part location as investors interest continues to grow, adding that with the local content agenda the projects are expected to stimulate significant in-country capacity as local fabrication capacity will have to increase.
She further stated that through the gas revolution initiative, the creation of world scale fertilizer plants will enable linkages between the gas industry and agriculture. adding that improvement in petrochemicals production would create the basis for the growth of a diversified industrial base in the country.The Sun
