By Ismaila Chafe
President Muhammadu Buhari inaugurated the Pinnacle Oil and Gas FZE Terminal in Lekki, Lagos, on Saturday saying the operations of the facility would ease congestion at the Apapa Port area.
In a video message at the inauguration of the facility, the president said it had also reduced cost and delivery of petroleum products distribution to many parts of the country.
He congratulated the Chief Executive Officer of Pinnacle Oil and Gas Ltd., Mr Peter Mbah, for establishing the massive terminal facility and for providing hundreds of jobs for Nigerians.
The president described the investment as a demonstration of the success of his administration’s agenda to transform the nation’s economy.
He added that government looked forward to many more investments of the same magnitude.
He assured investors of the continued support of the Federal Government in efforts at elevating growing prosperity in the country.
“The provision of energy security is one of the cardinal points of our administration.
“We recognised that seamless supply and distribution of petroleum products is challenged by infrastructure deficit and complicated by the congestion at the Apapa Port area of Lagos.
“We provided targeted support to the energy industry by providing an enabling environment, including regulatory facilitation to ensure investment in critical infrastructure.
“I am happy today that Pinnacle Oil and Gas Ltd. leveraged on the opportunities and established this massive terminal facility,’’ he said.
The president also expressed the hope that further expansion works which the company had since started would further provide incremental value, especially more employment for youths.
“The success of our agenda to transform our country is clearly demonstrated by this massive investment and the obvious contributions it has made to our overall economic well-being,’’ he stressed.
Buhari said also that the Federal Government would continue to encourage and support investors to take advantage of on-going reforms in the oil and gas sector as enshrined in the Petroleum Industry Act.
He expressed the hope that other investors would replicate the feats achieved by Pinnacle Oil and Gas Ltd.
In his remarks, Mr Mbah expressed confidence that the terminal, with over one billion litre-capacity would fulfil its promise by positively impacting on the downstream sector of the country’s oil and gas industry.
Mbah noted that the ultra-modern, purpose-built petroleum products intake, off-take and storage facility would facilitate the efficient receipt of imported petroleum products.
It would also improve general energy security in the country and trigger significant savings in the cost of petroleum products at the pump, he said.
Mba said the company was in advanced conversations with nearby Dangote Refinery with a view to forming the nucleus of what would become Africa’s largest energy logistics hub.
He thanked the president, Federal and Lagos State authorities as well as the host community for their unflinching support in making the project, which began in 2011 to come into fruition.
He described the facility as a world class petroleum terminal with the capacity to handle import and export of petroleum products.
Mbah explained that vessels arriving at the facility would have the opportunity to anchor at either of its two offshore berths.
“They can berth at our Conventional Buoy Mooring, which is in 17 metres of water depth and can handle vessels of up to 120 million litres.
“They can also berth at our Single Point Mooring, which is in about 23 metres of water depth and can handle vessel sizes of up to 200 million litres.
“These moorings are connected to our storage facilities by four networked pipelines of 40km total length.
“These pipe networks are designed to empty the vessels in a maximum of two days, a significant improvement on the previous duration of up to 30 days,’’ he explained.
According to him, the company’s shore tank farm is currently able to handle up to 300 million litres of petrol as well as diesel.
He said the facility was designed to permit rapid discharge into trucks for evacuation at a rate of up to 20 million litres per day.
Mbah said a consortium of Nigerians banks were behind the one billion dollars funding of the facility. (NAN)
