In a statement issued by the Special Assistant to the Governor on Media, Mr. Hakeem Bello, the Lagos State Government and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company had signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Thursday, setting up a Greefield refinery and hydrocarbon industrial park to be located at the Lekki Energy City within the Lekki Free Zone.
The statement quoted the NNPC Group General Manager, Greenfield Refineries, Mr. Adebayo Ibirogba, describing the occasion as a defining moment in the history of business partnerships in Nigeria.
“By this MoU, NNPC and Lagos State Government have agreed to co-promote and co-invest in a greenfield refinery and hydrocarbon industrial park at the Lekki Energy City within the Lekki Free Zone” ,he said. Observing the transaction as a momentous ”land for equity” commercial transaction and a shared risk investment, which envisaged an investment package worth $25bn spread on 1500 hectares of land in the Energy City.
He disclosed that the project would be implemented in four tranches over the next 10 years, commencing from next year.
The Special Adviser to the Governor on Commerce and Industry, Mrs. Olushola Oworu said the planned development of the Lekki corridor by the state government under an integrated plan would include the deep sea port, proposed city airport as well as the greenfield refinery to be developed jointly with the NNPC and other private sector partners.
Explaining further on the plan of the government towards the trade zone, she noted that it will comprise the oil and gas zone, the manufacturing zone and tourism zone, which will have first class hotel and recreational facilities.
Oworu said, “It is a multifaceted development of Lagos State we are aiming at. We also hope that with this joint venture, we will be able to create employment for our people, we will be able to bridge the gap between demand and supply of petroleum products in Nigeria and we will be able to eliminate importation of petroleum products in no distant future.”
“It is expected that investment in the greenfield refinery and industrial park will include a 200 to 300KBPD refinery, an 800 Megawatt power plant, a three million metric tonne per annum fertiliser plant, as well as a 500 metric tonne per annum petrochemical complex,” according to the statement. “With South-West Nigeria accounting for over 40 per cent of national consumption of gasoline in Nigeria, location of a refinery within the nation‘s commercial nerve centre by the Lagos State Government and the NNPC is an expression of genuine commitment to meet the energy needs of not only the city but that of the South West region at large”.
And it expected that investment will be structured on mutually beneficial and commercial terms amongst the parties to the agreement and anchored on consumer market demand driven by commercial viability.
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