The 2500 barrels per day modular refinery being constructed by Duport Midstream Company Limited in partnership with the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) at Egbokor in Edo State in south-western Nigeria will be ready for commissioning in the last quarter of this year, the Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Mr. Simbi Kesiye Wabote, has said.
Speaking during his visit at the project site on Friday to assess the progress of work on the fabrication of the tank farms, civil works, pipeline installation and other site preparation works, Wabote confirmed that the project has reached 80 percent completion.
He disclosed that the modules for the 2 Megawatts power plant and the control room were being fabricated and assembled in Lagos for delivery to the site.
According to him, the modular refinery is part of the Duport Energy Park and that it is conceived to include a 30 million standard cubic feet per day gas processing facility and a power plant.
NCDMB’s partnership with the Duport Energy Park was approved in June 2020 by the Board’s Governing Council chaired by Nigeria’s Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva.
According to a statement by NCDMB, the project is being supported under NCDMB’s commercial ventures programme, which is also in line with the agency’s vision to serve as a catalyst for the industrialisation of the Nigerian oil and gas industry and its linkage sectors.
It added that the NCDMB boss commended the contractors for the substantial progress they had made on the project and hinted that the operational phase of the refinery would create employment for 100 persons and indirect and induced jobs for about 1500 persons.
He stated that the Board’s partnership with Duport Midstream and other investors to develop critical energy facilities were conceived to support the Nigerian government’s drive to create millions of jobs for the Nigerian populace.
He assured that NCDMB was committed to create jobs for Nigerians through its direct projects and partnerships with other project promoters.
Another modular refinery, Waltesmith Modular Refinery in Imo State in south-eastern Nigeria, which the NCDMB is partnering with is already operational, refining 5000 barrels of crude per day. The NCDMB is also partnering with Azikel Modular Refinery in Bayelsa State also in south-eastern Nigeria.
Nigeria imports refined petroleum products for domestic consumption since its state-owned four refineries with 445,000 barrels per day installed capacity are due for rehabilitation and turnaround maintenance. The Nigerian government had on March 17, 2021, approved $1.5 billion for the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt Refinery.
GIK/APA