ARCO canvasses refocusing economy through petrochemical industries

Group Managing  Director  of ARCO  Petrochemical  Engineering Company, Alfred Okoigun, has lent his support  for  the diversification  of  the  economy through a  well  thought  out  policy.

Okoigun said with the current economic crunch in Nigeria, due to what appears to be a prolonged slump in oil prices leading to dwindling revenue, the country cannot afford to hesitate this time over the implementation of a well –thought out policy of diversification of her economy.

The Arco Group  boss who spoke at the annual conference of the Institute of Directors in Abuja  on the topics ‘Refocusing Nigeria’s Economy through the Petrochemical Industry’ at the annual conference of the Institute of Directors in Abuja,  said  nations  such as China, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia that placed emphasis on the development of viable and sustainable petrochemical industries in the distant past and even in the era of oil boom are now enjoying the cushion effect of their far-sighted policy decisions and implementation.

He said that even, Japan and India that are non-oil and gas producing countries had a head-start in the establishment of petrochemical industrial complexes to the extent that they have been posting huge revenues from local consumption and exportation of petrochemical raw materials and finished products.He added that in spite of their situations, Japan is the world’s third largest producer of petrochemicals and chemicals and she started as far back as 1955. India in its own case is the 6^th largest producer of petrochemicals in the world and holds the third position in Asia.

He observed that comparatively, Saudi Arabia exports 100 million tonnes of petrochemical products while Nigeria’s production figure is less than one million, a quantity not enough to feed the local industries in need of petrochemical raw materials.

He said that despite the fact that the main raw material which is gas that is needed to produce ethylene, propylene, carbon black to name a few is available in abundance in Nigeria, the country depends largely on foreign imports for its petrochemical needs and therefore the nation is yet to seize the opportunity to venture into a veritable area of diversification that can create massive job opportunities.

He identified the cankerworm of corruption as a bane of the attempts to develop the country’s petrochemical industry and called for decisive steps by government to block all avenues through which investible funds disappear into private pockets.

He pleaded with the Government not to assume that it has become too late to reverse Nigeria’s misfortune in starting her own petrochemical industry.

“Since we now know that the current downturn in the world oil market will not go away quickly as it had happened in the past and that the growth in demand for petrochemical raw materials and finished products is likely to reach 40% worldwide in 10 years, we must roll out the plans that had been formulated since the 70s, modified from time to time till date and virtually unimplemented on any grand scale.” He said.

He emphasized that for the efforts towards the diversification of the Nigerian economy to succeed, Nigeria must follow the examples of nations that have success stories to tell in that direction. He suggested that Nigeria should now have a well-defined and structured chemical and petrochemical policy that is properly integrated into the oil and gas industry and with realistic timelines for concrete actions.

He called for the establishment of more refineries, adding that the Dangote Refinery and petrochemical plants that are expected to start production in 2018 should serve as the harbinger of many more of such plants.

Okoigun mentioned the need for the reactivation of the Ogidigben Gas Master Plan with a view to building petrochemical plants in gas-rich areas.

“The success of Nigeria’s efforts towards diversification into the petrochemical industry in particular will largely be determined by large scale investment in infrastructure, creation of an enabling investment climate to attract foreign investors, development of local capabilities that will enable indigenous Nigerian companies to play pivotal roles in the industry and the issue of security should also be paramount.” He said.