$7.5bn refinery for Cross River

A Chinese firm, Sino Arab Energy, SAE, in partnership with a local firm, Osabo Refining and Petrochemical Industry Limited, have concluded plans to build a refinery in Akabuyo, Local Government Area of Cross River State.

Agreement s for the construction of the refinery which is expected to refine 107,000 barrel of crude per day have been signed by the partnering firms, and is valued at about $7.5billion.

Speaking on the project, Hon Etim Effiong Okon, who is a member of the management team of Osabo Refining, said the process for the procurement of requisite licenses to establish and operate the refinery had fully commenced, while Akwa Esuk Eyamba, the community where the refinery will be located had donated 500 hectares of land for the refinery.

The refinery is expected to be completed within five years, with the first phase slated to commence in 2014, while the feedstock for the refinery would come from the several Niger Delta basin oil wells.

Power Projects: FG expresses doubt over Chinese firms

The Federal Government has asked China to attest to the competence and integrity of two Chinese firms contracted to execute two power projects in Nigeria. The government said such a gesture would be necessary in view of the importance it attached to power projects such as the 3,500 megawatts Mambilla hydropower project and the 700mw Zungeru hydropower project being handled by two Chinese firms, SINO Hydro and China Gezhouba Group Company Ltd (CGGC).

Minister of State for Power, Mr. Darius Ishaku, at a meeting with the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Beng Boqing, in Abuja, stated the concern of the Federal Government on the two companies handling the projects. The minister added that the government would subcontract some parts of the project to other contractors to quicken the realization of the projects’ objectives within the expected period.  According to him, the Federal Government is not comfortable with the companies and has reasons to doubt their ability to successfully handle the projects. This, he said, had made the Federal Government to direct CGGC to pair with SINO Hydro to achieve the targets set for the various projects.

In response to the government’s demand, Boqing, who vouched for the integrity of the companies, said they were as famous in China as they are in Nigeria in areas of hydropower technology.