A private sector-owned modular refinery under construction at the Abia Industrial Innovation Park (AIIP) in Owaza, Ukwa West Local Government Area of the State, will be ready before the end of the fourth quarter of 2025 if all things work well, Joel Ogbonna, State’s commissioner for Petroleum and Mineral Resources has said.
Ogbonna, a professor of Petroleum Gas, made this known in a current affairs programme, tagged “Update on activities of Ministries, Departments and Agencies”, facilitated by the office of the Chief Press Secretary to the Abia State Government.
He stated that the State Government established the Abia IIP to take advantage of the huge benefit of oil and gas deposits in the Ukwa axis of the State to industrialise the State.
With this in mind, he said that Governor Altti, quickly acquired 1,933 hectares of land in Owaza, in Ukwa West, to make the area a hub for industrialisation, where you will have modular refinery, petrochemical and fertilizer companies.
He affirmed that a lot of investors are visiting Abia with the intent of setting up factories at the Park.
According to him, Abia has about 100 capped oil wells, each with a capacity to produce one million barrels of oil, per day.
Governor Otti, while performing the ground-breaking ceremony of the AIIP, early in the year, said that it was conceived to serve as a launch pad for Abia’s economic rejuvenation, leveraging the many advantages of its location, including the oil and gas deposits, nearness to Aba and Port Harcourt cities, abundance of skilled labour and a secure environment for uninterrupted production and other industrial activities.
He commended the communities for offering their land to give his vision of an economic city a foothold and assured that the community would benefit from the project when completed.
He said; “My honest assurance to everyone is that the Abia State Government shall keep to its part of the bargain and you shall get what you truly deserve. We shall also work with experts and industry regulators to set up clear guidelines that will drastically minimise the damage to your natural environment.
“Above all, we will see to it that every corporate entity that shall have a presence here takes its corporate social responsibility very seriously,” he said.
Otti further commended the various businesses and government agencies that have indicated serious interest in being involved in the AIIP, stressing that he is excited to see the heads and representatives of several multinational corporations and government agencies present at the groundbreaking ceremony.
“Our vision is clear and our goal direct: we want to responsibly harness the abundant oil and gas reserves within Ukwa for the economic development of the communities within, the state and the regions connected to this project location.
“At every stage of this project, even before this groundbreaking ceremony, jobs will be created, local businesses will be empowered and multiple channels of economic expansion established for entrepreneurs within and outside this immediate community.
“The AIIP promises to be a win-win for every stakeholder, especially the host communities that have graciously welcomed us, the investors who can be certain of a conducive business environment, steady power supply, nearness to raw materials, a large population of skilled and unskilled labour, the government through improved revenue and even the research and academic community who can use this project to drive their search for knowledge on relevant t
“The agenda is to build a connected system that offers the advantage of economies of scale to businesses that would be sited here, taking advantage of a systematic network that offers endless enterprise opportunities, residential comfort, robust infrastructure, outlets for leisure and recreation and chains of other benefits that cannot be obtained in any other location.
He assured that things would be done differently as all that is promised would be delivered and no party shall be short-changed.
