The
Governor of Cross River State, Prof. Ben Ayade and his Delta State counterpart,
Senator Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, have inaugurated Fynefield Petroleum FZE’s
ultra-modern 40 million-litre capacity petroleum product depot located at the
Calabar Free Trade Zone in Cross-River State.
The
world class facility which meets international standards, has a combined
capacity of 40,734,724 litres with petrol storage capacity of 20,413,594 litres,
kerosene storage capacity of 10,157,073 litres and diesel storage capacity of
10,164,057 litres.
Inaugurating
the deport, Ayade, expressed his excitement about the investment which he
described as a significant milestone and a big boost to the Cross River and the
nation’s economy in the areas employment opportunities and speedy distribution
of products across the country.
The
governor commended the management of Fynefield Petroleum FZE for choosing Cross
River State as the location for the ultra-modern petroleum product depot, “we
are very glad you choose to make this huge investment in Calabar, we can assure
you that it is a very good decision.”
Speaking
at the inauguration, the Managing Director, Fynefield Petroleum FZE, Mr.
Gabriel Ogbechie, said the ultra-modern depot was built to enrich the
distribution chain of petroleum products in the country as the deport will
serve Cross River State, neighbouring states like Akwa Ibom, Abia, Imo, Taraba,
Plateau, some states in the North-east and the northern part of the county at
large.
He
added that the investment which cost over N3 billion, is the company’s contribution
to the economy of Cross River State in particular and the whole country in
general, “this facility will provide direct employment for over fifty
individuals and hundreds indirectly because tank trucks will come to the
facility from all over the country to lift petroleum products.”
Ogbechie
however disclosed that there are some challenges that comes with distribution
of petroleum products in the areas which he highlighted saying: “We are being
faced with some challenges doing business in this part of the country, the
first I’ll mention is the road network, moving products from Calabar to other
part of the country, the Calabar, Ikot Ekpene road can be better than what it
is today, also the Calabar-Ikom-Ogoja road which takes products to the northern
part of the country can be improved upon, we pray that His Excellency the Cross
River State Governor in collaboration with the federal government will help fix
the roads” he said.
According
to him the second challenge petroleum depot operators face is the relative
shallow daft in the Calabar River: “What we have is the comparative low draft
of the Calabar River channel, the draft is 6.4m, it makes it difficult for
vessels fully loaded with petroleum products to come to bed safely, we load
15,000 metric tonnes into vessels that have capacity to load 30,000 metric
tonnes so that the vessels can berth, which increases the cost of doing
business. We are appealing to his Excellency, Professor Ben Ayade, to help
resolve these challenges.”
Delivering
his goodwill message, the Delta State Governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, said the
project is a huge investment to Cross River State which will provide employment
for youths in the state and boost petroleum product distribution chain in the
South-south and some northern part of the country.
Speaking
on the challenges faced by depot operators in the area, the governor said: “My
colleague, Professor Ben Ayade, is a business minded governor so he knows the
importance of providing an enabling environment for business to thrive, though
I know it is not easy, but I still plead with him to see how he can attend to
some of the request made by Fynefield Petroleum FZE.”
Responding
to the some challenges enumerated by the Managing Director, Governor Ayade said
his administration is already working on them, “My administration is aware of
some of the challenges that you have mentioned and we are already working on
them.”
“I
assure you that the evacuation corridor will no longer be a challenge, in no
distant time the construction of 240 kilometre highway from Calabar down to
Ikot Igoja will commence, the contract has been signed a few days ago,” he
said.
He
added: “On the issue of draft which I understand increases your cost of doing
business because you are not able to load your vessels to full capacity; this
government has thought it wise to set up a special task force to dredge the
channel. In 18 months time, modern vessels will be able to birth in Calabar
because we are commencing the construction of a deep see port.”
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