Petrolex’s mega oil city to cut Apapa gridlock by 60 per cent

From an unexpected source, a leading energy conglomerate, Petrolex Group, is set to drastically crash the perennial gridlock at Apapa with the launch of its Mega Oil City at Ibefun in Ogun State, tomorrow, which will over time eliminate over 2,000 tankers from Apapa road. The project, a legacy investment currently value at over $330 million by PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC), has a tank farm with a monthly turnover capacity of 600,000 million litres of petroleum products, and will transform petroleum products storage and distribution in Nigeria by catering for about 60 per cent of in-country needs. It will not only break record as the first of its kind in sub-Saharan Africa energy landscape but also decongest Apapa by as much as 60 per cent and significantly return sanity to both economic and social lives in the area and environs. “As a solutions-driven company, we are positioned to drive increased efficiency and consistent value creation across the West African downstream oil and gas value chain through our strategic investments and the delivery of superior quality products and services,” the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of Petrolex Oil and Gas Limited, Segun Adebutu, told the media during a tour of the site. “Working with our diverse stakeholders, the successful completion of the first phase of our mega oil city in Ibefun, Ogun State, demonstrates our disciplined approach to project management and signposts our ability to execute large-scale energy development projects that will move the region forward.” The facility has 30 loading gantries, residential quarters, ultramodern health centre and a 4,000-truck capacity park with accommodation for drivers. It is expected to completely transform into the largest petrochemical industrial estate in the whole of sub-Saharan Africa when completed in the next couple of years, hosting a 250,000bpd capacity refinery, gas processing plant, lube plant and other feedstock industries, including fertiliser plants. Similarly, it will expectedly create over 10,000 new jobs, impact over two million lives, improve distribution of petroleum products by over 500 per cent, improve efficient delivery of products to retail markets and eliminate over 2000 tankers from Apapa road. Easy to access by land and waterways because of its strategic location, the Petrolex Oil City’s impact on Apapa will be huge as products can be easily shipped in from the Atlantic Ocean and out through fleets of specially designed barges sailing through the river from the site. So far, Petrolex has procured 10 barges, two tugboats and a daughter vessel just while also expecting additional six barges and six tugboats to strengthen its product distribution diversification.