Sopuruchi Onwuka

The hitherto countrified Owazza town in Ukwa West council area of Abia State is about to undergo swift industrial transformation following ongoing collaboration among the state government and private investors to develop industrial park in the area.

Leading the private sector side of the partnership is the HSI Energies which flaunts a massive investment capital of over $500 million or significant N800 billion and commercial concept for establishment of key energy facilities and infrastructure which are critical to realization of collective economic aspiration of other players in the partnership.

The Oracle reports that Owazza which connects with Rivers State from the south central section of the irregular shaped Abia State hosts petroleum exploration and production activities; but the resources produced from the area are piped away to processing and exports hubs that are far away from the production sites.

Thus whereas both the communities in the area and Abia State retain their oil producing status, the full economic impact of the petroleum production by mainly international oil companies has eluded the people for decades until now that indigenous investors are collaborating to develop the downstream end of the business and deliver direct socio-economic benefits to the local people.

Industry players have at several policy debates agreed that Nigeria must shift the focus of its energy resource value from targeting foreign exchange revenue to stimulating domestic industrialization and gross productivity growth. And the Owazza industrial park is conceived to develop a highly enhanced haven that provides manufacturers and sundry businesses with reliable and cost efficient means of production.

The government of Abia State, we gathered, has already secured over 200 hectares of land for the industrial park that would for the hub of the state’s industrial rebirth.

Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of HSI Energies, Mr Chikezie Nwosu, told our correspondent that the company which plays across the full energy loop of the energy chain comes in with a string of investments that includes petroleum refining, petrochemicals production, gas-fired electricity production, gas-to-liquids processing, and gas based industries.

He stated that the refinery plants would be modular and scalable; beginning with two modules of 5,000 barrels per day each which would be build one after the other. Initial products from the plants, he said, would be mainly naphtha, household kerosene (HHK), automotive gas oil (AGO) also called diesel, bunker oils, and other heavy distillates.

Upon expansion up to 30,000 barrels per day, HSI would install catalytic reformers harness increasing volumes of produced naphtha for production of premium motor spirit (pms) popularly known as petroleum which is the most demanded transportation fuel in the country.

Other products that would be churned out by the refinery upon expansion would include dual purpose kerosene (DPK), aviation turbine kerosene (ATK) and other light products.

Already armed with License to Establish (LTE) from domestic industry regulators, Mr Nwosu stated that the planned projects in Abia have scaled initial stages to reach detailed engineering design with plans to go to site by early 2026.

The concept, he said, is to build an energy production base that meets the need of the immediate and contiguous market, provide facility and energy incentives for local and foreign manufacturers to collocate in enhanced business setting that lowers cost of production.

The energy investments, The Oracle gathered, have already been allocated 11 hectares of land at the industrial park; and plans are solid to achieve the first module of the scalable refineries within 18 months of going to site.

Mr Nwosu who was the Managing Director of the Ibigwe Refinery operated by Waltersmith Petroeman in Imo State the target is to grow the refinery into a full train refinery that feeds the market with a full range of

In the immediate, power supply needs at the refinery would be made possible with some 45 mmscf/d of gas to be supplied by Shell Nigeria Gas (SNG) under a Heads of Terms agreement; while the long term requirement will call for some 250MMscf/d.

All the investments and operations would be run by the different subsidiary companies of HSI Energies specializing in Exploration and Production, Refinery and Petrochemicals, Gas and Power as well as Gas-to-Liquids (GTL).

On feasibility and commercial viability of the investments, Mr Nwosu pointed at Waltersmith’s Ibigwe refinery as a model.

Beyond commercial vision of the company, Mr Nwosu explained, the projects come with significant social dividends for the people; including skills acquisition and job associated opportunities, social investments in amenities, easy access to energy and the trigger effect on the productivity of Abia and surrounding states.

He made it clear that the greatest dividend would be the potential to spur the entrepreneurial spirit of the people of the zone, and the duplication of similar projects in the entire southeast and southsouth regions of the country where partnership becomes possible.

Mr Nwosu said that HSI Energies was already in discussion with governments of Anambra, Imo and Delta to develop energy parks that would host gas based industries. He added that other states of the nation are expected to also latch onto the concept to attract investments, boost productivity, create jobs for the youth and reduce criminality.