Eight years after taking full control of the development and management of the Onne oil and gas Free Trade Zone (FTZ) in a 25-year concession agreement with the Nigerian Port Authority (NPA), oil servicing company, Orleans Invest West Africa Limited, says it has remitted $126.095 million to the Nigerian Government.
The payment, which covers the period 2006 to 2014, it noted, was made through the NPA and covers the contractual agreement fees on commencement, lease, throughput as well as land industrial area, adding that the Federal Government would be paid over $724.651 million for the 25-year period of the concession.
Also, the company said it has so far invested over $6.1 billion in the development and upgrading of the Onne Port and oil and gas FTZ, noting that the investment has transformed the Onne FTZ world class.
Apart from its additional input to the Nigerian economy, it added that the investment has reduced the problems that oil companies operating in the South-South region used to encounter with its state-of-the-art oil servicing facilities for easy lifting of oil by several local and foreign companies, including Oando, ExxonMobil, Chevron and Agip, among others.
Orleans’ Chief Executive Officer, Andrea Canoli, told newsmen on Monday at the firm’s Onne corporate office that the Onne FTZ has completely been transformed from what it was when the company took full control in 2006.
With the installation of modern facilities, he stressed, the transformation has attracted the zone to so many local and foreign oil firms, which have continued to enjoy its facilities even as over 500 companies are currently investing in the zone.
According to Canoli, the development of the zone, which has petrochemical, fertilizer and allied industries, has created over 28,000 jobs with 170 investors and no fewer than 500 companies. He assured of Orleans’ commitment to ensuring that the zone maintains its leading role in the development of the oil and gas sector in the country.
Canoli further described Onne Port and Oil and Gas FTZ as the strategic regional maritime hub in West Africa, stressing that development there is growing impressively.
Revealing that its sister company, Intels, has invested $74.245 million (about N11.557 billion) in Port Facilities Infrastructure Development (PFID), he noted that the development of warehouse facilities, Federal Ocean Terminal (FOT) and boat manufacturing facilities at FOT have gulped $1.679 billion.
Copyright Ships & Ports Ltd. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit given to www.shipsandports.com.ng as the source.