June 14, 2023 [Vanguard]- The license was presented on behalf of the Federal Government by the Nigerian Mainstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, on Tuesday, in Abuja.
Presenting the license to the Chief Executive Officer of Belema Oil Producing Limited, Mr Tein Jack-Rich, the CEO of NMDPRA, Farouk Ahmed, reiterated the Federal Government’s commitment to the ease of doing business in Nigeria.
Ahmed noted that with the presentation of the license to Belema Sweet Export Terminal, the indigenous oil company became the second to acquire such a license, the first being the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Exploration and Production Limited.
The NMDPRA boss explained that except in accordance with the appropriate license by the Authority, no company or entity had the right to engage in any exploration activity in the country, except the two companies.
He stressed that no entity had the right to operate, establish a terminal or other facilities for export or importation of crude oil or petroleum products.
”In line with this, the authority has processed and hereby approved terminal establishment licenses to these two organizations. One is the NNPC Exploration and Production Limited, with 2,179,704 barrels of crude oil terminal at OffShore Akwa Ibom State within the waters of the exclusive zone. The second is the Belema Sweet Export Terminal in Kula, Rivers State, with 2 million barrels of crude oil terminal,” Farouk said.
According to him, the terminals are expected to operate within the provisions of the conditions of the licenses as contained in the document.
He, therefore, called on investors to invest in the sector as the government was determined to ensure a business-friendly environment for them.
Speaking after the ceremony, Jack-Rich said the event marked a great milestone for the country, and attestation to the great success story of President Bola Tinubu, in less than two weeks of assuming office.
”With the establishment of Belema Sweet Crude Export Terminal, Nigeria now ranks number one in the world to establish a crude oil Export Terminal that is climate-conscious, where traditional energy and renewable energy integration is operated through a virtual power plant model. This is in line with energy efficiency/sustainability to protect our ecosystem. This will also create over 100,000 jobs for families in the Niger Delta and Nigeria at large”, Jack-Rich said.
Also speaking, Mr Modibbo Ahmed, who received the license on behalf of the NNPC, said that Nigeria should expect the crude oil terminal in the next one to three months.
Vanguard reports that the Belema Sweet Export Terminal Project is designed to be the first hybrid crude oil export terminal in the world. It is a land-based terminal with good proximity to the Atlantic Ocean, via the San Bartholomeo River, for ease of offtake.
However, the terminal is divided into two sections; the crude oil processing terminal section and the oil export loading terminal section. The first phase of the project will consist of a 2,000,000 million barrels storage capacity.
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