The Oil and Gas Free Zones Authority (OGFZA) has said that it would render all necessary support to the Eko Support Services Limited to enable the terminal operator realise its full potentials as a free trade facility.
Managing Director of the OGFZA, Umana Okon Umana gave this assurance during a tour of the Eko Support Terminal at Apapa port, Lagos yesterday, even as he added that the authority is ready to grant the terminal a sub-zone license and create an annex to improve its operations.
Umana noted that the terminal is listed on the authority's brochure as one of the free trade zones in Nigeria and that the OGFZA under his watch is committed to ensuring that it succeeds.
He assured that Eko Support Terminal would be offered a Sub-zone license to acquire a stand-alone enterprise where other free zone activities including warehousing, fabrication would be taking place outside the ports.
"I know that to optimally use this place you would definitely need space and that is why we are thinking outside the box about sub-zones, it happens in other climes, you can have a stand-alone enterprise depending on the value added to the economy, you can be license as a subzone with full benefit even if there is no jetty"
"We can work something out with you to acquire land somewhere and it is annexed, all you have to do is put in place a proper management structure so that all the interested parties would know what is expected of them including the Police, Customs and Immigration in order to be a one stop facility"
"The authority under me have determined to ensure that our free zones succeed, I would set up a committee go address all your challenges to ensure that in the shortest possible time the zone becomes operational" he said.
Speaking earlier, Managing Director of Eko Support Services Limited, Mr. Seni Edu pointed out that one of the major challenges of the terminal is space.
According to him, the terminal had been assigned to handle equipment required for the construction of the much anticipated Dangote Refinery and other oil and gas project cargoes.
Welcoming the OGFZA boss, Edu explained that the firm is looking at what it will entail to get space elsewhere.
In his words, “our major challenge is the environment and the space. For our clients, they won’t come to pay registration fee if they don’t know that they will have space that they will use immediately"
“Some of our clients have also been affected by the downturn in economic activities, even though we have been marketing them. Of cause, it is from the business that we will get the benefit. If there are no businesses, then you won’t be talking of benefit.
“We will like to know the modalities involved in getting a space outside our facility at the Lagos Port Complex (LPC)".
He reiterates that they the terminal handles a lot of non-oil and gas projects. We did about 85% of the Dangote fertiliser project. We have also been nominated by Dangote to handle its refinery projects, projects is what we do, including oil and gas.
“Our constraint with the oil and gas free zone is that the space is that the space we have is quite small. We have been trying to do some marketing, but if we have space, maybe like an annex, we should be doing pipe coating projects, maybe of Dangote. We really want to expand our operations, but we are limited by space"
“Our second challenge is that there are a lot of controversies among the free trade zones. For examples, we had an issue with Shell. Shell wanted to use our facility as a secondary option out of Lagos. Although, the project has been suspended for now, but if they are to come back, we will need a space like an annex because what we have here inside the port won’t contain such project alongside others".
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