MRS Oil Nigeria Plc has inaugurated a berthing terminal – Dantata Jetty – with capacity to berth vessels of 80,000 – 120,000 metric tonnes at the Tin Can Island Port in Lagos.
The facility, reputed to be the first of its kind in Africa, would save millions of dollars spent yearly by marketers to hire daughter vessels to lift products from from the high seas to the depots.
With the new terminal, mother vessels can berth at the new Jetty.
Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, said he was impressed by the information technology deployed in the facility to monitor the loading of every petroleum product in computers, adding that it is the largest on the continent.
He said with the computerisation scheme in the facility, the chairman of the company could monitor the loadings from anywhere.
Kachikwu said he had a similar vision for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), stressing that as the leader in the downstream sector, the NNPC Downstream should adopt a similar computerisation scheme to reduce losses.
“That is fantastic; it is important that we get the NNPC to align with this strategy to reduce losses,” Kachikwu said.
Kachikwu recalled that it was a year ago that he took a decision that the lightering expenses incurred by the NNPC in transferring products from the mother to daughter vessels was becoming unsustainable. “Sayyu (chairman of MRS Oil) heard this and took the decision on this facility,” he said.
He praised MRS, noting that the acquisition of Chevron Oil had transformed the company from a small firm to a big global one, saying the Federal Government has the responsibility to improve the ease of doing business to ensure the success of businesses, such as MRS Oil.
Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, said MRS Oil deserved commendation “not only for the size, the capacity – the audacity really of what MRS has done but also because it was done by a Nigerian company.”
According to him, the most important investor in any economy is the local investors because “they will not run away, no matter how tough it is.”
Fashola said the administration realised this and had remained committed to supporting indigeneous investors, such as MRS.
“Congratulations also that this investment has come to maturity at a most auspicious time – barely a week after Mr. President launched the economic recovery programme and one of the priority actions in that programme out of the 60 interventions is strengthening our capacity towards self-sufficiency in energy supply,” Fashola added.
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