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The country is expected to save about N43billion annually from the operations of the Lagos midstream Jetty which was commissioned yesterday by the Rotimi Ameachi, the Minister of Transport.
The jetty was constructed at a cost of $150m and was designed to increase the vessel delivery capacity and off-loading efficiency of petroleum products at Apapa Lagos. The jetty has been identified as an immensely valuable asset in the OVH Energy stable as it will allow 45,000DWT vessels to berth and discharge their products without lightening and demurrage.
The cost saving across the industry will be in excess of $120 million per annum. The jetty is expected to lead to significant reductions in the cost of importing petroleum products into Nigeria.
It would alleviate the perennial infrastructural hiccups experienced in Apapa, eliminating the lighting and demurrage charges currently being incurred by petroleum marketers by N8.3 billion and 9.8 billion respectively. Additionally, the jetty will reduce discharge time from 21 to three days.
With a draft of 13.5 metres, length overall of 210 metres and a capacity of to receive 45, 000 DWT vessels deadweight tonne3, the Lagos Midstream jetty will discharge up to 800 cubic metres of petroleum products per hour. The jetty will operate 24 hours a day to supply product into the storage facilities situated within the Apapa axis via a three kilometre submarine pipeline network linked directly with up to 200,000 metric tonnes storage belonging to the major and independent marketers in Nigeria.
The Jetty is configured to receive all white products namely petrol, diesel and kerosene, consist of a simple horizontal platform, five berthing dolphins, and four mooring points.
Commenting on this development, Wale Tinubu who is the chairman of OVH Energy, he said that the Lagos Midstream jetty was conceived as innovative industry solution to the perennial challenges marketers faced in the importation of petroleum products.
He said for over 30 years, marketers have spent approximately N1.6 trillion on lighting, with 90 per cent of this spend flowing out of the country.
