. A Russian firm, Safinet Group has expressed
its desire to establish a 7,000 barrels per day
capacity refinery in Calabar with a provision
to increase production to between 60,000 to
65, 000 barrels a day.
Chairman of Safinet, Mr. Arsen Mudonov
disclosed this during a meeting with the state
governor, Senator Ben Ayade in Calabar
recently.
Mudonov disclosed that his group decided to
come to Cross River to establish the refinery
because of the peace and tranquillity that the
state is known for in addition to the
hospitable nature of the people.
He said his company is into construction, oil
and gas with advanced technology in the
construction of oil and gas equipment and
machineries.
He said the company has been expanding its
operations to different parts of the world
including Africa in the last five years.
The Safinet Group Chairman said his company
wants to take advantage of the conducive and
peaceful environment of Cross River and
Calabar in particular to establish the refinery
of 7,000 barrels production capacity a day
which will be increased to 65,000 barrels a
day in the near future.
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Responding, Governor Ben Ayade said his
administration has turned the state into an
investors’ haven by creating a conducive
atmosphere for investment.
Governor Ayade reiterated that the peaceful
and hospitable nature of the state and its
citizens were recently attested to by the
outgoing United States Ambassador to Nigeria,
Mr John Erntwhistle, who picked the state as
his most favourite place in Nigeria.
Ayade informed the delegation that Cross
River state is always the first port of call and
choice for investors and that the state is on
the mouth of the Atlantic Ocean in the South,
which makes it a good candidate for oil and
gas business.
“If you are putting a refinery and your
sources of shipping in the crude is by barges
then the refinery being located by the
waterside becomes easy. Even if you want a
solid land location, we also have solid earth
where you can have access to bring in your
crude by barges and then have pipelines to
take the crude to your refinery.
“Cross River is close to so many oil wells, so
building your refinery here is like eating your
cake and having it. We have good roads, we
are building a super highway and a deep
seaport at the mouth of the Atlantic Ocean.
Again, Cross River is closer to Russia than any
other place in Nigeria in terms of seaport”,
Ayade maintained.
In his earlier remarks, the leader of the
delegation and Chief Executive officer (CEO),
Hkzain Corporation Limited, Mallam
Muhammad Attahiru, said that they were in
the state to present technological innovation
in the area of oil and gas that will provide job
opportunities to the people in line with the
vision and policy thrust of Governor Ben
Ayade’s administration.
He assured that Safinet has the experience,
capability and the expertize in the areas of
construction, oil and gas and that they have
established in North Africa and South Sudan
and that they want the government of Cross
River to give them the opportunity to establish
their presence in the state, and assured that
they will not disappoint the state.