HBM Nigeria Plc has commissioned a compressed natural gas (CNG) station at its Mfamosing plant in Cross River State, with the facility expected to increase its daily truck-handling capacity from 150 to about 250 by October.

The station, which has an installed capacity of 144,000 standard cubic metres of CNG per day, is currently in its first phase and can fuel up to 150 trucks daily.

The company said phase two, expected to come on stream by October 2026, would raise the capacity to approximately 250 trucks daily, with the additional capacity expected to reduce refuelling and waiting times for trucks and improve the turnaround of vehicles operating within its logistics network.

Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of HBM Nigeria, Lolu Alade-Akinyemi, said energy and logistics were significant cost drivers for the company and its value chain.

He said the increased use of CNG was intended to reduce those costs while aligning the company’s operations with the Federal Government’s push for CNG as an alternative energy source.

He added that the facility would create opportunities for communities, customers, contractors and transporters in Cross River and other parts of the country.

The company’s Logistics Director, Osaze Aghatise, said HBM Nigeria had used CNG in its logistics operations for nine years, but that the new facility represented a significant expansion in the scale of its deployment.

At the commissioning, Cross River State Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Ekpeyong Ene Cobhams, congratulated the company and said the state government was committed to maintaining an investment-friendly environment.