NIPCO to boost downstream oil sector

Ayomide Owonibi, Lagos - Updated: Tuesday 12-05-2009

A typical world class oil refinery

NIPCO Plc, a key petroleum marketing company, has expressed its to put necessary resources together to boost the downstream sector of the nation’s oil and gas industry.

According to the company’s review, the assertion was borne out of her determination to be the first choice in the industry to offer all stakeholders quality service in petroleum products storage and handling in an environment that was friendly, safe and dignifying.

In a conscious bid to actualise this goal, NIPCO embarked on projects that would boost the downstream sector and solve some of the problems plaguing the industry.

Prominent among its investments last year was the construction of a state-of-art liquefied petroleum gas plant which was inaugurated in the first quarter of 2009 and already the impact of its load out is being felt in the domestic gas market.

In complementing the massive infrastructure in the terminal, 30 LPG bulk tankers were procured to guarantee safety of products in the course of transportation to the plethora of bottling plants across the country.

The company in its cefforts to improve the domestic utilisation of LPG invited key local players under the auspices of National Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers (NALPGAM) to the terminal with a view to further involving them in making gas available in all and pasts of the country.

The team led by its President Adeshina Onabule described the plant as being of good standard comparable to any other worldwide and expressed the desire of its members to take advantage of the facility to the fullest.

NIPCO’s desire in the LPG business will not be limited to use of the product for domestic cooking alone but also the powering of vehicles with LPG a feat that we are pioneering in a move to reduce dependence on white products as vehicular fuel.

Already, some of the company fleet is using LPG with supplies from our terminal in Apapa, Lagos and in no distant future more cars will be running on LPG across the state and beyond.

Another major investment of the company in 2008 is the ongoing construction of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) stations in Benin , Edo- State to enable people avail themselves opportunity of using clearer fuel to power their vehicles.