Niger Delta states set to embrace modular refineries

• Osinbajo meets Gbaramatu leaders, US investors
States in the Niger Delta are set to work with the Federal Government and the private sector to develop the modular refinery concept as solution to the operation of illegal refineries in the region.

The Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande said this was one of the highlights of the inter-ministerial meeting on the Niger Delta, presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo yesterday.

Under the plan, communities would come together, working under their respective state governments with the Federal Government and private sector operators, to design the template for the modular refineries in their communities.

At another meeting yesterday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, a delegation of representatives from the Gbaramatu Kingdom also met with the Vice President. The representatives came with a group of United States investors.

The Gbaramatu Kingdom representatives and investors under the aegis of the “Oil and Gas Producing Trust Fund,” included prospective investors in a modular refinery project in the community.

The leader of the delegation and Bolowei of Gbaramatu Kingdom, Chief Wellington Okrika, said the community was committed to the actualisation of the 20, 000 barrels per day, Gbaramatu Modular Refinery project, which he noted would bring about lasting peace and stability in the region.

Osinbajo commended them for taking the initiative to support government’s actualisation of a plan for the region, stating that “it should be one of the models of what we will be doing in the future.’’

He assured: “we will engage on the basis of trust, we must prove that we are trustworthy.”

At the meeting, the Vice President noted that the modular refineries to be established would have to be profitable and realistic in order to address critical issues bordering on the development of the region on a sustainable basis.