Abia govt offers partnership, infrastructural incentives to petro-allied investors

Sopuruchi Onwuka

Commercial concerns interested in building facilities for production of petroleum and allied chemical products can now explore free land and partnership with the government of Abia State which has offered enhanced localized industrial parks for players in the energy sector.

 Governor Alex Otti of the state whose goodwill message was delivered at the 2023 Annual International Strategic Conference of the Association of Energy Correspondents of Nigeria (NAEC) hosted in Lagos declared that his administration of the state government has activated plans to broaden gthe value chain of petroleum industry activities in the state.

The conference was anchored on the theme: Nigeria’s Energy Transition: Enhancing Investment Opportunities & addressing challenges in Energy Sector.

The Oracle Today reports that Abia State, one of the oil producing states in the Southeast Zone of the country, recently commissioned an industrial park in its petroleum industry hubs to incubate midstream petroleum players interested in processing crude oil and natural gas from oilfields.

The state is also designated as the host of the several industrial parks being rolled out by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) to provided infrastructure and facility bases for local manufacturing hubs for goods and services consumed in the Nigerian petroleum industry.

Established to regulate the implementation of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act 2010, the NCDMB champions and coordinates the development and growth of domestic capacity for production of all inputs in local delivery of oil industry jobs, localization of activities and retention of oil industry patronage in the host economy.

At the NAEC conference in Lagos, Gov Otti declared the intention of his administration of Abia State government to provide private sector players in the petroleum industry with over 100 hectares of land, infrastructure, and an enabling environment for the construction of manufacturing and processing plants in the state.

In condemning the prevailing import dependent energy and equipment supply in the country, the governor stated his intention to host investments for value derivation from crude oil and natural gas produced in the country through provision of enhanced environment for midstream processing plants including modular refineries, central gas processing facilities, and equipment manufacturing plants.

He stated that the crude oil in the natural state has little economic and financial value if the molecules are not broken down into useful commodities including petrochemicals, plastics, fertilizers, fuel products, lubricants and many more.

The vision for value derivations, he pointed out, enabled “us to bring all the players together for an investment and establishment of modular refineries, petrochemical plants, fertilizer plants and logistics in Abia State.”

In pointing at the global movement towards energy transition, the governor who flies the flag of the raving Labour Party in the country stated that emphasis would beam on environmental efficiency of the planned industrial hubs, noting that motor spirits, gas products and green energy forms would form the new energy mix from the state.

The Oracle Today reports that the federal government is also pursuing similar programmes through the autogas policy, Nigerian Gas Expansion Programme (NGEP) and the cooking gas penetration initiative.

Governor Otti stated that Abia State would be willing to partner investors in driving their projects by forging Private Public Partnership (PPP) arrangements.

The governor’s address which was delivered online by the Commissioner for Petroleum Mineral Resources, Professor Joel Ogbonna, emphasized the need for subsequent investments in value derivation from petroleum resources in the country to be environmentally friendly to curb the carbon intensity.

The governor said the industrial hub and other incentives for petroleum investors in the state would not only reverse the economic waste of petroleum products importation but also grow the economy of the state and ensure prosperity for its citizens.

“The Abia State Government’s decision to provide land and infrastructure for the project is a significant step towards achieving a sustainable energy future. The project will also create job opportunities for the citizens of Abia State and boost the state’s economy.

“We are committed to unleashing and spending resources on technology and infrastructure to make this agenda a reality. We are however committed to decarbonization to reduce our carbon footprint.

“So as a government in Abia state, we have decided to drive a good environment clean initiative,” the governor said, emphasizing that good governance is the fundamental to realizing all the economic aspirations of the state.

“We are therefore inviting all to Abia state to see what we are doing in terms of energy transition. We are determined to provide infrastructure and an enabling environment for every investor seeking to establish modular refineries and petrochemical plants in the state.

“This project is going to be a Private Public Partnership (PPP). Together, we will achieve collective goals of mitigating the destruction of the ecosystem,” he said.