Article written by Emeka Ugwuanyi and originally published in The Nation on May 19, 2014.
The Chrome Group is to invest $750 million between this year and next year in a project being handled by its engineering and oil service subsidiary, Kaztec Engineering, at Snake Island in Lagos.
The Executive Vice Chairman of Chrome Group and business mogul, Sir Emeka Offor, spoke during a tour of the project by the management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS).The tour was led by the NNPC Group Managing Director, Andrew Yakubu, and other dignitaries including former Senate President, Ken Nnamani.
Sir Offor, who is also Charman, Kaztec, said: “Kaztec is set to become a full turnkey one-stop-shop in the building and refurbishment of floating production, storage and offloading vessel (FPSO, construction of large offshore modules for oil and gas business, offshore pipelines and platforms; logistics and supply base; pipeline coating; structural steel pipe rolling mill, dry or floating dock and oil and gas training centre, among others.”
He explained that the $750 million would be invested in the construction of a pipe coating and pipe rolling mill facility, dry-dock and logistics base at the dockyard. With this, the company would have invested over $1 billion in the facility since August last year.
The Snake Island project, which is being executed in partnership with Addax Petroleum (A Sinopec Company), is currently working on the booster compressor 2.
Offor said the project would contribute substantially to solving the unemployment problem, adding that it will create about 5,000 direct jobs and 20,000 indirect jobs by 2016.
He said the company has 50 engineering design professionals in its employ, and plans to increase it to over 300 by 2016, and another 75 professionals which will be increased to over 200 by 2016. He said the company has 500 skilled workers and 30 project managers, adding that it is expected to increase to over 150 in 2016.
Offor said the project sits on 550 hectares with 80 per cent of the land reclaimed. He added that dredging, sand filling and grading of phase 1A is ongoing, while pre-cast of sub-assembly foundation and foundation trench for warehouse has been set up.
The Senior Vice President/Managing Director, Addax Petroleum, Mr. Cornelius Zegeelar, said the project is a reflection of Kaztec’s capacity in the oil and gas sector, adding that it would boost Addax’s production by between 6,000 and 7,000 barrels per day.
Kaztec Engineering’s Commercial Director, Mr. Marc Robillard, said the company is set to improve the country’s position as an oil and gas engineering, procurement and logistics; construction and fabrication.
