Speaker, Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, Aniekan Bassey yesterday charged the Ibikpe, Ikpa and Ikot Oku communities in Uruan Council Area to be united and cooperate to facilitate establishment of the proposed 50,000bpd Modular Refinery in the area.

Over the previous 10 to 15 years, Nigeria oil and gas sector has been comatose or at best seen very sluggish growth. In the upstream sector, the rig count has dropped from a high of 200 to a current low of 10.

The Chairman, Eko Petrochem and Refining Company, Emmanuel Iheanacho, said the U.S. Government, acting through the USTDA, had accelerated the process of the company’s planned economic investment through the industrial development grant of $797,343.

A modular refinery is made up of smaller and mobile parts that are more easily fabricated and more quickly transported to site. They come in different sizes with varying capacities normally lower than conventional refineries.

Communities in Okrika local government area of Rivers State have requested licences from the federal government to operate a modular refinery in the area. They also urged security agencies to return stolen crude and petroleum products recovered from the area to enable them refine....