By MICHAEL EBOH

The promoters of the Gulf of Guinea Methanol have appointed IHS Global Limited United Kingdom, to conduct a detailed feasibility study on the proposed $1.1 billion (N176 billion) methanol plant at the Ogidigben Industrial Gas Park, in Delta State.

The methanol facility, with a projected daily production of 5,000 metric tonnes, is sponsored by the Gulf of Guinea Oil Exploration Limited (GGOEX), and has Haldor Topsoe AS (HTAS) of Denmark, as its strategic partner and licensor.

According to a statement by Mr. Joe Ibeh, Director, GGOEX, financial closure of the deal is been hampered by the delay in concluding land allocation as well as gas supply to the facility.

He disclosed that the company has been working closely with the Gas and Power Directorate of the NNPC for the past two years in order to bring the project to fruition.

Ibeh, who is formerly a director of the United Kingdom subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), however noted that the project financiers are at advanced stages of discussions with the Nigerian government in reaching agreements for the allocation and supply of natural gas for the life of the project.

While stressing the benefits from the success of the project, he added that methanol would be derived from processing natural gas, which is an optimum feedstock option available and cost efficient in Nigeria.

He maintained that the absence of a thriving chemical industry in Nigeria poses a dilemma for the industrial and economic development future of Nigeria.

According to him, the sector is a key factor to realising national industrial development and growth for petrochemical products and technology.

He said, “There are no defined chemical development policies in place despite the Vision 20:20:20 agenda, intending to make Nigeria one of the top 20 developed countries in the world.

“This industry belongs to the oil and gas sector, which is the cornerstone of a vibrant petro-chemical industry, and there is a need for structural reforms similar to the telecommunications and financial industry to foster domestic growth in the sector.”

The methanol plant is to be housed in the proposed Gas Industrial Park at Ogidigben in Delta State, an initiative of the government designed to be a one-stop shop for gas-based industries in the country.

Leaders of Ugborodo community, the host community, were excited at the siting of the project in their domain.

The community however cautioned on the need to maintain peace, in order to ensure the successful completion of the project, which would lead to massive job creation and boost economic activities of the area.