Minister of State for Petroleum Resources launches Steering Committee for $20b Gas City Project
Abuja, Nigeria — (March 10, 2017) – Against the backdrop of the meeting between Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and the consortium of investors building a $20 billion gas industrial park in Ogidigben Delta State, Nigeria, The Hon. Minister of State Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu formally launched as Chairman, the inaugural Steering Committee for the Gas Revolution Industrial Park (GRIP) project.
The Steering Committee comprises of key government stakeholders in the project; Ministry of Petroleum, Delta State Government, Nepza, NNPC, NPA, along with the AGMC developer consortium and is envisioned to provide Federal Government of Nigeria’s highest level of support in the development, implementation and fast tracking, of the GRIP project. Key stakeholders from government and the consortium that were present during the meeting included H.E. Senator Dr. A. I. Okowa (Governor of Delta State), Dr. Francis O. Alaneme (DD, Federal Ministry of Trade and Investments), Mr. Gbenga Kuye (MD NEPZA), Mr. Simbi Wabote (Executive Secretary NCDMB) Senior Executives from NNPC including COO of Upstream and COO of Gas and Power Division, Messrs. Rabiu Bello and Mr. Saidu Mohammed, and executives from Alpha GRIP Management Company including Mr. Sheikh Mohamed Bayorh (Executive General Manager) and Ms. Jessie Liu (Chief Representative of Power China) in Nigeria.
This Steering Committee will assess and review the technical challenges to the project provided by the technical working team, and provide a platform for quick intergovernmental interfacing for addressing the challenge and the requisite approvals. As required, briefings and recommendations will be provided to the office of the VP ensuring Federal Governments’ support and oversight for the project. During the meeting, HE Dr. Kachikwu thanked the Alpha Grip Management Co consortium for their dedication and continued commitment to the project despite the challenges that have been impacting the Nigerian economy and the project for the past couple years. He reminded the committee that this project is a key part of Federal Government’s developmental agenda for the Niger Delta region and all hands must be on deck to ensure its success.
Mr. Bayorh thanked HE Dr. Kachikwu, NEPZA, NNPC, and the other government stakeholders in aligning their efforts to ensure a cohesive working team to ensure the successful execution of the project. Ms. Liu added that the consortium is very excited to move forward and has full support of Chinese Government, investors, partners, and lenders in which the companies which comprise of the AGMC consortium have a collective revenue base of over $150b usd. Ms. Liu highlighted that Power China is the largest state-owned power generation company in the world with several executed projects already concluded in Nigeria such as the Papalanto gas power plant in Ogun State. This is In addition to Power China’s planned $2b investment in the infrastructure, power, and utilities portion of the GRIP project.
During the 2 hour discussion, the consortium made a brief presentation on the status of the project and it was agreed that within one month, the Steering Committee would reconvene to discuss in detail each stakeholder’s roles and responsibilities would be.