Business
–
Intels, Onne Port concessionaire and oil logistics giant has called on the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, and other agencies of government enforcing regulations in the country’s maritime domain such as the Nigeria Customs Service and the Nigerian Navy to further enhance synergy among themselves and put an end to illegal and midstream discharge of cargo.
Speaking while receiving a delegation of top officials of NIMASA who were on a familiarisation tour of maritime facilities in Onne Port and to the headquarters of the oil and gas logistics company, Chibuisi Onyebueke, Intels’ Assistant General Manager, urged NIMASA and other agencies to enforce existing rules of trading which forbid vessels from discharging midstream or at non-designated locations. Onyebueke explained that while NPA cargo dues in oil and gas terminals stand at $5.83 per tonne, other terminals attract only $1.18, resulting to a huge loss of $4.73 per tonne.
According to him, Intels had paid to NPA and Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE) a total of $182.77 million since the Onne Port concessioning in 2006 till date, while the two bodies also earned total payments of $724.65 million before the concession regime. World’s fastest growing oil and gas free zone, the Onne Free Zone has attracted Foreign Direct Investment hitting $6 billion brought in by about 185 companies and employing 7,000 direct workers.
But Onyebueke complained that illegal diversion of cargoes to non-designated facilities was hampering the concessionaire’s ability to meet the guaranteed minimum tonnage (GMT) target as provided in the contract agreement. “Private jetties are receiving and discharging cargoes from oceangoing vessels irrespective of a presidential directive to agencies to enforce the rule and this is threatening our ability to meet our contractual target,” he said.
Intels’ head of Administration however, lamented several challenges faced by the concessionaire in advancing oil and gas logistics servicing in Nigeria. He said, “We could not have achieved all these without challenges. Top among our challenges are failure of dredging and deepening of Warri and Calabar ports entrance channels; lack of power- no national grid, as the company provides power for its operations,” he said.
Responding, Rotimi Fasakin, NIMASA’s Executive Director, Operations, who stood in for the Director-General of the Agency, commended Intels management for its commitment to developing One Port and the free zone. He however charged the concessionaire to voice out on issues bordering on its operations, or contract and as relates to issues of competition, as its failure to disclose critical issues was not helping current government in gaining adequate information about the company’s operation and challenges. – Independent
— Oct 12, 2016 @ 18:40 GMT
|
Tags:
