Conoil PLC

Conoil Builds Ultra-modern Depot in Port Harcourt

2010-Oct-12
…to ease fuel scarcity in South-South, South-East, North.
Efforts by the Federal Government to boost petroleum products supply and distribution in the country has received an extra fillip as frontline marketer, Conoil Plc has constructed an ultra-modern fuel depot, in the country’s oil capital Port Harcourt, Rivers state almost equal in size in terms of storage capacity as its flagship depot in Apapa, Lagos.

The new Port Harcourt depot, built on a sprawling complex near the free port zone of Onne, will provide easy access to fuel imports and ease considerably, the current pressure on available jetties and other port infrastructures in Lagos.

Essentially, the massive depot is targeted at facilitating product distribution to the eastern and northern parts of the country and bringing about immediate relief to the consumers who suffer perennial fuel scarcity in those parts of the country.

Our correspondent gathered that the complex has a storage capacity capable of holding 70,000 metric tonnes of all products namely, Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), Automotive Gas Oil (AGO), ATK (aviation fuel), kerosene and bitumen.

The huge storage capacity, it was further gathered, would enable the supply of 55 million liters of fuel per day, delivering 300 trucks on a daily basis.

Conoil officials said, with the fully automated depot, which gulped about N12 billion, the company was strategically positioned not only to revolutionise the downstream sector through new initiatives, but also to back Federal Government’s bid to end the perennial fuel supply problems in the country particularly in the eastern and northern parts.

Checks revealed that facilities at the depot include nine storage tanks, comprising two each for PMS (petrol), AGO (diesel), ATK (aviation fuel) and bitumen, as well three tanks for base oil.

“All facilities and equipment at the company’s installation in Apapa (Lagos) are replicated at the Port Harcourt depot. This will reduce dependence on fuel supply from Lagos through bridging, thereby providing the opportunity for massive distribution of petroleum products around the country,” a company source said.
Oil industry experts were also of the view that fuel prices could also come tumbling down as a major cost in fuel imports – demurrage – will be eliminated as vessels berthing at the Port Harcourt jetty experience far less bureaucratic bottlenecks than is obtainable at the Lagos jetty operated jointly by the five major fuel marketers comprising Conoil, African Petroleum, Mobil Nigeria, Total Nigeria and Oando.

The Federal Government spends huge sums of money to pay marketers the cost of bridging products from Lagos depots to other parts of the country. Even then, states in the east and northern parts still experience intermittent fuel shortages.

“Investing in such ultra-modern facility in the heart of the Niger Delta, shows the confidence the Board and management of Conoil have in the Federal Government’s peace initiatives in the region,” an official said.

He added that with the 210,000 barrels per day Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC) now back on stream, the Conoil facility indeed, came in handy to greatly assist in product evacuation from the country’s biggest refinery, as well as efficient and effective distribution of the fuel to the target areas of the plant.
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