Indorama Eleme Petrochemicals Limited is set to invest about $3 billion over the next five years to expand its petrochemical and fertiliser operations in Nigeria.
The investment is aimed at transforming the company’s facilities into one of Africa’s biggest integrated petrochemical and fertiliser hubs, according to the company’s Managing Director, Manish Mundra.
Mundra disclosed the plan in Port Harcourt while speaking at the 7th Mid/Downstream Oil and Gas Conference organised by the Centre for Gas, Refining and Petrochemical Engineering, University of Port Harcourt, alongside the Nigerian Society of Chemical Engineers.
Represented at the event by Indorama Eleme Fertiliser and Chemicals Limited’s Head of Fertiliser Manufacture, Upendra Singh, Mundra said Nigeria has enough oil and gas resources to support a much larger industrial base.
He, however, noted that despite the country’s growing refining capacity, Nigeria and other African countries continue to rely heavily on imports for products such as plastics, fertilisers and specialty chemicals.
According to him, greater investment in petrochemicals and other downstream industries would allow Nigeria to process more of its natural resources locally and produce higher-value goods for domestic and export markets.
Mundra said Africa’s rising population, expanding agricultural activities, construction industry and growing demand for packaging materials would continue to drive the need for fertilisers and polymers.
He also identified Nigeria’s more than 206 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves as a major opportunity for developing integrated industrial complexes capable of producing products such as ammonia, urea, polyolefins, resins and other chemical materials.
He called for policies that would encourage investment, improve logistics and close gaps in innovation and sustainability across the downstream oil and gas sector.
Mundra also said recent policy changes, including the Petroleum Industry Act and fuel subsidy deregulation, were helping to reshape investment opportunities across Nigeria’s oil and gas value chain.
He added that Nigeria could move from being largely dependent on imports to becoming a major exporter of petrochemical and downstream products if its resources were properly developed.
The Chairman of the Governing Board of the Centre for Gas, Refining and Petrochemical Engineering, Anthony Ogbuigwe, said the conference was focused on encouraging policymakers and industry players to maximise the value of oil and gas by-products and create more economic opportunities for the country.
