Nigeria losing jobs to China, others due to idle facilities — DPR
The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), yesterday, raised concerns over moribund oil and gas facilities across the country.
Speaking during a visit to one of such facilities, a fabrication yard located at Ilase Village, Snake Island, Lagos State, Director of DPR, Sarki Auwalu, said the development would limit domestic refining capacity and hinder projected benefits.
He insisted that the Federal Government was, however, committed to reactivating the moribund oil and gas support facilities across the country.
He added that the move was part of the government’s effort to increase domestic refining capacity and gas utilization to curb unemployment and poverty in Nigeria.
“The industry depends on facilities like this to actualize its investment because it is like a support system for the oil and gas sector.
“Our visit is to the edifice that we licensed and it is dormant. But we are going to make it active because we see it as an opportunity to grow the oil and gas industry.
“We have seen an opportunity we can use to support our gas utilization, penetration, and expansion programme. We have issued several licenses for modular refineries that need fabrications. We cannot allow this kind of facility to remain under-utilized,” he said.
Engineering Director, Kaztec Engineering Limited, Mike Simpson, said the facility became dormant in 2015 after its main contractor, Addax Petroleum, declared a force majeure on its operations.
Simpson said some of the unutilized equipment in the facility included a dive support vessel, pipe laying vessel, and an already constructed Jacket that could be used for oil and gas operations.
