Notore’s free zone status to attract $5b investments

Port access will open vista for oil, gas industrial hub, says GMD
A free zone licence awarded to Notore Chemical Industries Plc. is set to attract inflow of about $5 billion Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into the country.

The Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the firm, Onajite Okoloko has disclosed.

He explained that the goal is to establish an industrial oil and gas, as well as petrochemical complex to attract investments, and create thousands of jobs for Nigerians.

Notore Chemical Industries is one of Nigeria’s leading agro-allied, petrochemical and power companies, whose direct port access and a dedicated jetty at the company’s Onne complex, near Port Harcourt, Rivers State, would spur the establishment of the industrial complex.

Notore was earlier awarded a free zone developer’s status by the Oil and Gas Free Zones Authority (OGFZA) in December 2017, following its satisfactory compliance with the requirements for a free zone developer’s licence.

With this development, the company said it has potential to attract more than $5 billion investment into the country, and also create over 15,000 jobs.

Okoloko stressed that the company is strategically located, as Onne Complex is located within the Notore Free Zone, which provides “significant tax benefits and advanced logistics solutions for international distribution of products.

“The Onne Complex comprises of approximately 560 hectares of land owned by Notore with two kilometer of waterfront, including the Notore Port and a dedicated jetty.”

He added that these have the capacity to accommodate vessels with a maximum volume of 15,000MT (metric tonne), which are all owned by the group.

“Direct port status through ownership of the Notore Port gives the group easy access to the Atlantic Ocean for easy import of raw materials and export of the group’s products to the rest of the world.”

Included also is “a more cost-effective operation, which is a strong competitive advantage.”

The Group Managing Director added that Notore would in the next few months rollout plans for the industrial complex at Onne.

He added that part of the objective is to make it a hub for gas utilisation that will serve as the feedstock for its fertilizer, petrochemical and power plants.

“Through our gas sale agreement with an indigenous oil and gas company, Eroton Exploration & Production Limited, we have guaranteed gas supply to the complex.

“So the gas supply shortages that we once experienced are a thing of the past. With this in place, we can now focus on the construction of the second train for Notore,” he said.

He stressed that it would co-produce 1,000,000 metric tonne (MT) of fertilizer per annum and half a million MT of methanol yearly at Notore’s certified brownfield site.

Okoloko described OGFZA as a very important enabler of industrialisation in Nigeria, adding: “This zone will diversify the company’s focus on refining, methanol, power, E&P logistics and hydrocarbon processing.”

He added that the company is in discussions with Mitsubishi Corporation of Japan to develope a methanol plant at the site.

It is also seeking alliances with other petrochemical, oil and gas logistics and infrastructure companies and financial and strategic investors, to participate in developing the Free Zone, he added.