The first privately-owned midstream jetty in West Africa, Lagos Midstream Jetty (LMJ), was on Tuesday launched to alleviate the perennial infrastructural hiccups being experienced in Apapa area of Lagos State.
Mr Wale Tinubu, the Chairman, OVH Energy, a subsidiary of Oando Plc, said the jetty was conceived as an innovative industry solution to perennial challenges facing marketers in the importation of petroleum products.
The jetty, located at the Lagos Apapa Harbour, will increase the delivery capacity and offloading efficiency of petroleum products into marketers’ storage facilities in Apapa.
Tinubu said: “Over the past 30 years, marketers have spent approximately N1.6 trillion ($4.5billion) on lightering, with 90 per cent of this spend flowing out of the country.
“Today, we have delivered a first class piece of engineering that meets global standards, is the first of its kind in sub-Saharan Africa and will be of invaluable benefit to the industry and nation at large.
“It is a proud moment for Oando Plc who conceived the idea and OVH who have taken up the mantle.
“From conception to realisation, the idea of the Lagos midstream jetty is now a reality and indeed another infrastructural success for us, our nation and the continent.’’
Also, Mr Deji Osikoya, the General Manager, ASPM Ltd., a subsidiary of OVH Energy, said that LMJ was an innovative infrastructure investment designed to radically transform the efficiency of Nigeria’s downstream landscape.
Osikoya said that the jetty would also boost Nigeria’s petroleum downstream economics.
According to him, we expect the jetty to become an extremely valuable and viable portfolio especially for marketers, reducing delays caused by infrastructural limitations in Lagos.
“The jetty is equipped with a gangway tower to facilitate vessel discharge operations and an on-shore control station at Alapata, Apapa which serves as the central control centre for its off-shore and on-shore operational activities.
“The LMJ is fully operational having berthed 10 vessels and discharged products totalling 255,000 metric tonnes of cargo, demonstrating its potential as a functionally efficient and safe facility.
“The jetty is set to substantially boost supply of petroleum products into Nigeria and contributes an estimated N13. 1 billion ($36 million) cost reduction in products imports and associated transactions,” he said.