Abuja – Nigeria’s Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo, has disclosed the Government plan to build a gas industrial park worth about $20 billion in the Niger Delta region.
Tagged the Gas Revolution Industrial Park (GRIP), will be located at Ogidigben, Delta State. The project which would be realized by Public-Private Partnership was also envisaged to be a regional hub for all gas-based industries.
The project will cover 2700 hectares of land with fertilizer, methanol, petrochemicals, & aluminium plants located in the park that has already been designated as a Tax Free Zone by the Federal government.
The industrial park would be a cluster for several industries in one location benefiting from an efficient, cost-competitive and abundant supply of natural gas, proximity to a deep sea port and centralized utilities, and services such as uninterrupted power, world class telecommunications and processed water.
The park, originally conceived by NNPC, is located about 60km from Warri, and is about 1km away from the operational base of Chevron Nigeria Limited. It will be connected to over 18 trillion Cubic Feet of gas reserves in fields such as Odidi, Okan, and Forcados, located within a 50km radius. It is equally planned that the park will be connected to Nigeria’s most dominant gas pipeline network-ELPS, enabling supply of gas to and from the park. It is planned that the park will be connected to Nigeria’s most dominant gas pipeline network-ELPS, enabling supply of gas to and from the park.
Nigeria’s Acting President met with international developers and investors of the project at the presidential Villa, Abuja on Monday, Yemi Osinbajo said that the Buhari administration “is committed to the development of the Niger Delta, and the importance of this project is underlined by the presidential attention it is attracting. The presidency is very interested.” Osinbajo had prior to now at the instance of President Muhammadu Buhari embarked on visits to oil-producing communities to demonstrate the resolve of the administration in the pursuit of a new vision for the Niger Delta.
Yemi Osinbajo quoted “we already have a Steering Committee in place, chaired by the Honourable Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and that shows the level of our commitment. We are unwavering.”
“We take the project very seriously and glad to see you are committed and ready to make several other commitments. This is a process that we intend to see happen.”
The project will be developed by a consortium made up of Fortune 500 companies, comprising the GSE&C of South Korea, the China Development Bank, Power China and several other global operators from Asia and the United Arab Emirates in the Middle-East.
According to the plan presented by the consortium to the Acting President, about $20 billion would be invested to develop the Gas Revolution Industrial Park, and it will generate 250,000 direct and indirect jobs in the process.
The Minister of Petroleum Resources, Kachikwu made his remark on the project and he expressed confidence that the GRIP would bring the much needed succour to the people of the Niger Delta, and the oil-producing states. Also the leader of the group of investors and developers, Sheikh Mohamed Bayorh stated the commitment of the consortium, adding also that the project was important to solving the Niger Delta crisis.