Rivers begins work on own refinery

Soni Daniel, Port Harcourt
The Rivers State Government has begun moves to establish it own refinery with the inauguration of a 10-member committee of experts to carry out the Environmental Impact Assessment for the project.

The proposed refinery may be sited at Ohali Creek on the Orashi River in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government area of the state.

At the inauguration of the committee headed by Professor Clifford Odu, the State Commissioner for Energy and Natural Resources, Mr. Ndubuisi Nwankwo, advised the members to work towards the early completion of the assignment to enable the government to pursue the project with the seriousness it deserved.

Nwankwo said that other aspects of the refinery depended on the outcome of the EIA report and urged the members to liaise effectively with the Department of Petroleum Resources in carrying out their job to avoid any setback.

He also asked the committee members to see their assignment as a service to the state and to put in their best to accomplish the task.

In his reaction, a member of the committee, Chief Shedrack Akolokwu, said that the survey of the project site had already been concluded by the State Lands Department to facilitate the early take off of the refinery.

Akolokwu said that the members were aware of the Federal Government’s guidelines on the establishment of refineries in the country and would also work to meet the requirements.

He said that the refinery would be private sector driven on completion and would take care of the economic interest of the state and its people in terms of employment generation.

The chairman of the committee who thanked the state government for giving them the opportunity to serve, however, advised the government to ensure adequate funding for the committee to enable it to tackle the enormous assignment and turn in its report on time.

Odu lauded the Rivers government for being the first in the country to commission an EIA before embarking on a refinery project.

Rivers state is among the few oil producing states in the country given licences by the Federal Government to build their own refineries in addition to the ownership of marginal oil fields.

The PUNCH, Monday, April 12, 2004