Oando Awards N100m Engineering Contract, Upgrade LPG Terminal

Oando Plc, a major player in the nation’s downstream sector, has said that plans were afoot to upgrade its LPG terminal, Apapa, Lagos to an ultra-modern 7,600 metric tonne capacity facility, as part of efforts aimed at boosting the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) sector
The move, according to the company, was in line with its commitment to ensuring adequate availability of LPG otherwise known as cooking gas in the Nigerian market.
Consequently, Oando said it had awarded a Front-End Engineering and Design (FEED) contract to a United Kingdom-based engineering design and project management firm, Optimus Services Limited (OSL).
The contract, to be executed at a cost of N100 million, is to be completed by next year, and would form an integral part of acquiring all necessary regulatory appro-vals.
Meanwhile, the construction of the ultra-modern terminal is fixed for early next year, but it is subject to approval from the regulatory agency, whilst full operation is expected to commence by the end of first quarter of 2011.
Speaking on the contract, Ayo Ajose Adeogun, chief operating officer, Oando Marketing, said: “With this contract, we have moved the project a step closer to commercialisation. Increasing product reception capacity supports abundance of product stock. In turn, this will guarantee retail availability and make gas more affordable. Our ultimate objective is to encourage consumers to switch from wood and kerosene to cleaner and safer cooking gas. Oando is also committed to product storage optimisation with an effective market-leading freight system that will achieve two to three complete storage turns per month,” he noted.
Also commenting on the awarded contract, Group Chief Executive Officer, Oando Plc, Mr. Wale Tinubu, said: ÒIt is regrettable that despite Nigeria being the world’s 7th largest in gas reserves with 187 trillion cubic feet (tcf), the country has the lowest per capital consumption of LPG in the whole of Africa at only 0.45kg per person per annum, due to a lack of adequate infrastructure. For instance, the country has less than 20,000 metric tonnes functioning LPG shoreline storage available today as against the required 100,000 metric tonnes. Our ultra-modern terminal when completed by 2011 would provide in excess of 20 per cent of the total storage requirement of the entire nation. This bold step underpins Oando’s commitment to put an end to Nigeria’s perpetual LPG shortages in the long term.
He continued, “As inadequacies exist right across the supply chain, we will also enhance product availability at the retail end by injecting 100,000 units of high grade cylinders yearly. All these are geared toward ensuring that we maintain market leadership in a profitable sector and thus increase return to our shareholders”
The project will further consolidate Oando’s leadership position of the downstream oil industry and enable it to dominate the domestic gas market.
Oando has consistently invested in critical energy infrastructure that will encourage mass utilisation of safe and affordable fuel alternatives across the socio-economic strata in Nigeria.