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TONY JOHN, Port Harcourt
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva has said Indorama-Nigeria presents a very good example of how the abundant gas resources in the country could be effectively utilized to impact the economy positively.
Sylva stated this when he took a tour of the company’s petrochemicals and fertilizer plants in Eleme, Rivers State.
He said it was heart-warming for Nigeria to have Indorama utilizing gas in a true sense of value-addition.
The minister said the purpose of his visit was to see how the company was utilizing gas to create value in different sectors of the Nigerian economy.
He said: “What I have seen here is heart-warming for this country. I have had a lesson in value addition. I was here by 2005 in the old Eleme Petrochemicals Company and I saw the plant, an ailing plant at that time.
“But, what I have seen here today, is very marvellous; a lot has happened here, they have added a lot of trains, and added fertilizer Urea plant and other facilities”, he noted.
The minister said the federal government was also very happy to see that Indorama-Nigeria is living well and peacefully with its host communities.
Answering further questions from journalists, the Minister said: “I must say that this is very welcome value addition to our economy, they are doing very well. They have invested over $3 billion and plan to invest over $6 billion in the Nigerian economy”.
Sylva said Indorama’s over $3 billion investment has really helped Nigeria through creation of job opportunities, revenue to government, as well as supply of petrochemicals and fertilizers.
He said that the company has already partnered with the Nigerian government in supplying Urea fertilizer to the government (Presidential Fertilizer Initiative), saying that it has really helped in developing the rice production sector.
“You can see that effective gas utilization is at the foundation of expanding our economy and we hope that this can be replicated in other parts of Nigeria”, the minister noted.
He said he had also noted the challenges facing the company and promised that government would look into them.
The Minister and his entourage were received at the Indorama Petrochemicals Complex by top officials of the company led by the Managing Director, Mr. Manish Mundra.
Mundra assured the Minister that Indorama-Nigeria was focused on its vision of building the largest petrochemicals and fertilizer hub of Africa in Nigeria.
