The following article, written by Onyedimmakachukwu, was originally published in Ventures Africa on September 30, 2014. To view the original article, click here.
Nigerian First Bank Eager To Fund Kaztec’s $1.3bn Local Fabrication Contract
VENTURES AFRICA – Nigeria’s premier lender First Bank Plc has said it is willing to support the funding of a $1.3 billion fabrication contract awarded by Sinopec-owned Addax Petroleum to Kaztec Engineering, a subsidiary of the Chrome Group.
The contract will see Kaztec execute all of the fabrication processes for Ofrima/Udele oil wells development project in Addax Petroleum-owned oil mining lease (OML) 137 in offshore Nigeria for which it recently finalised agreements. Kaztec’s fabrication, set to begin in October is a giant step towards the aim of Addax to attain a daily production well in excess of 100,000 barrels per day (bpd).
First Bank’s interest in furthering boosting partnership with Kaztec was expressed as the bank’s Managing Director Olabisi Onasanya led a top-staff visitation to the engineering firm’s Fabrication Yard in Lagos, which is the first fully owned indigenous fabrication yard in Nigeria. There Onasanya expressed satisfaction with the projects handled by Kaztec especially the Antan Development project which was also contracted by Addax to the value of $136 million part of which is funded by First Bank.
First Bank’s Group Executive Director on Institutional Banking, Bashirat Odunewu, stated that the bank was interested in continuing to support Kaztec, “based on what the team saw on ground”.
She also praised the quality of Kaztec’s technical work which she added was made more impressive by the fact that the company is 100 percent Nigerian. “They (Kaztec) made presentation to us, and we had a walk round the facility. I must say that all the things we saw were very encouraging that a Nigerian company can do such good technical work”, she enthused.
“They showed us what they were doing presently and even those that have been concluded; these are works that were normally given to foreign companies to do. Also, their client, Addax Petroleum, was satisfied with what they are doing.”
Incorporated in 2005, Kaztec Engineering Limited focuses on the Engineering, Procurement, Installation, Construction, and Management of Onshore and Offshore Pipelines and Facilities.
