Chairman of Edo Modular Refinery and Petrochemical Company (ERPC) Plc, Michael Osime, has said that with the support from the state government, the company will rake in as much as $125 million in foreign exchange from the exportation of naphtha, which is one of the major products from the facility.
The Edo Refinery and Petrochemical Company is a beneficiary of the Edo State government’s policy of attracting investment to the state. The state government supported the refinery with project support fund of N700 million grant, which will be paid back to the state government in due course.
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The grant is supposed to be a catalyst that would enable the project to ensure quick take-off.
Chairman of ERPC, Michael Osime, said the refinery benefits from the federal government’s ease of doing business programme through which it granted fiscal incentives such as duty waiver on importation of equipment.
Osime said the refinery has reached 90% mechanical completion, while efforts are being made to beat a September 2020 commissioning deadline, with a team of over 250 locally-recruited engineers, fabricators and other workers engaged on the project.
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On expansion, Osime said the company would “meet 18% of local demand for diesel and earn in excess of $125 million from export of Naphtha per annum,” noting that the refinery would rejig the state’s economy by attracting feeder industries.
The company chairman explained that the N700 million project support fund accelerated the establishment of the company in the state, after signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a Chinese Consortium led by Peiyang Chemical and Equipment Company of China (PCC) and its Nigerian partners, Africa Infrastructure Partners Limited (AIPL).
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“We are also a beneficiary of Edo State government’s incentive programme to attract manufacturing companies to locate in Edo State. The incentives gave birth to a Nigerian-Chinese joint venture company, AIPCC Energy Limited,” he said.
The company secured its licence to establish a refinery (LTE) on December 10, 2018 and approval to construct (ATC) on March 11, 2019 from the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR).
By Chibisi Ohakah, Abuja
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