A WELCOME ADDRESS DELIVERED BY Engr. TONY OGBUIGWE, FNSChE, FNSE, FIPS Chairman, Board of Centre for...

A WELCOME ADDRESS

DELIVERED BY

Engr. TONY OGBUIGWE, FNSChE, FNSE, FIPSChairman, Board of Centre for Gas Refining & Petrochemicals, UNIPORT

Former Group Executive Director, Refining & Petrochemicals NNPC

"Port Harcourt - 2015"A WELCOME ADDRESS BY

4th International Petroleum Downstream Conference/Exhibition on Gas, Petroleum Refining,

Petrochemicals & Fertilizers

"Port Harcourt - 2015"

4th International Petroleum Downstream Conference/Exhibition on Gas, Petroleum Refining, Petrochemicals & Fertilizers



Theme: " Maximising Nigeria's Gas Value Chain"

It is with pleasure that I welcome you all to this 4th International Conference hosted by the Centre for Gas Refining and Petrochemicals of the University of Port Harcourt. This year’s conference has as its theme “Maximizing Nigeria's Gas Value Chain”. I again congratulate the University of Port Harcourt for successfully hosting this conference now for four years running. What started as an aspiration has crystalised into a successful medium geared towards contributing to and sustaining the focus on Gas, Refining and Petrochemicals as an enabler to growing the Nigerian economy.



In my welcome address last year, I stated that the sub themes were intended to engender discussion aimed at infusing the Petrochemical Sector into the Transformational agenda of the Federal Government.

Some measure of success was achieved in the petrochemical sector. The Indorama Eleme Petrochemical Company is now meeting almost all of the petrochemical needs of the country in poly ethylene and polypropylene. They have launched a project to build a new fertilizer plant as an expansion to their existing plants.



Plans are afoot to also build a methanol plant. The foundation stone was laid last year for the construction of a new methanol plant in Akwa Ibom. Similarly, the foundation stone was laid this year in May 2015 kicking off the Industrial Park in Oginigbi, Delta State. Xenel Industries of Saudi Arabia have announced plans to build a fertilizer plant as well there. When fully completed, the Park will include several other petrochemical plants.

I am indeed pleased that these developments are taking place because true wealth for any nation lies not in exporting primary resources, but in adding value to them through industrialization and conversion into secondary and tertiary products.



That is why I am particularly pleased with the theme of this year's conference "Maximising Nigeria's Gas Value Chain". For so long, Nigeria has been referred to simply as an oil exporting nation.

Very little was done to add value to our oil resource beyond the construction of three petroleum refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna. We now know that Nigeria has very vast gas resources which at last count amount to over 180 trillion standard cubic feet of reserves. Properly harnessed, this should provide a vast potential for development.



Gas is the primary feedstock for manufacturing of a large number of products in high demand every day in our lives, ranging from textiles, pharmaceuticals, solvents, propellants, aerosols, insecticides, perfumes to moulded car parts.

This is in addition to the already well known products derived from polypropylene and polyethylene.Maximising Nigeria's Gas Value Chain therefore has strong linkages to the industrial development of our Nation. For so long, epileptic power supply has held back industrial development.



Providing reliable alternative standby power has proved a serious challenge for most industries, sometimes resulting in very low capacity utilization. For business start-ups, the resulting additional capital expenditure represents anywhere from 15% for large scale ventures, to 30% for small scale manufacturing enterprises.

This is an unnecessary burden. Poor power supply infrastructure is a major contributor to the high cost of doing business in Nigeria. Maximizing the gas value chain should lead to better power supply and improve the ease the cost of doing business in Nigeria and the start-ups of new ventures.



Monetization of gas through liquefaction and export has yielded significant revenue to the Government. Such revenues should be plowed back into new ventures. The Gas Master Plan was launched with fan fare in 2012.

It provided a blueprint which envisaged greater investment in exploration of gas which would then be used as the basis for massive growth in power generation and industrial activity. The plan envisaged construction of a gas supply network including central processing facilities at key nodes.

Large scale liquefied petroleum gas production would result in increased supply to and consumption of cooking gas in homes across the nation. Propane would then be more readily available for industries to spin off. Gas supply pipelines to the east and northern parts of the country would also lead to growth industries in those areas.



How far have we progressed in achieving the Plan?

I hope that within these two days of presentation of papers and panel discussions, we will address certain key questions:

1. What is Nigeria’s strategy to effectively attain its growth potentials through maximization of the gas value chain?

2. How can Industry and Academia cooperate to spawn ideas which when implemented will lead to further development of the gas value chain?



3. What are the policy changes required to improve margins in order to cover costs and allow for adequate exploration, production and exploitation of gas reserves? When will the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) under consideration by the National Assembly Take place?

4. What are the solutions to the current challenges experienced by the downstream sector given the level and sophistication of vandalism on pipelines leading to theft of crude oil and by implication shut-in of gas production.



I welcome you all to two days of robust presentations and discussions that will provide answers to these questions.

THANK YOU !!!

A WELCOME ADDRESS DELIVERED BY Engr. TONY OGBUIGWE, FNSChE, FNSE, FIPS Chairman, Board of Centre for...

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