LAGOS JANUARY 25TH (URHOBOTODAY)-US multinational company, General Electric (GE) on Tuesday in Abuja, proposed to invest in the nation’s three refineries located in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna.
GE, in a presentation to NNPC GMD, Dr. Maikanti Baru and his team stated that the company’s teams of partners, including its consortium involving the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) partners, off-takers, traders and some financiers would be engaged in the initiative.
The company’s desire to partner with NNPC on the rehabilitation of the three refineries came on the heels of a similar proposal by the Italian company, Eni, to establish cooperation with NNPC for the Rehabilitation and enhancement of Port Harcourt Refinery.
GE, which is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, is worth $493 billion in asset and its business focus areas include oil and gas, power, water supply, aviation, healthcare, transportation and capital.
”We were involved in the tenders that started around last year which was subsequently withdrawn but our commitment to bringing the refineries on-stream is still very deep and we are very serious about it. We propose that work commences either with the Warri or Port Harcourt Refinery as a pilot, as we set a target to improve the refinery capacity before the end of 2017,”the Company stated in its presentation.
Leading a high powered delegation to the NNPC Towers, Jeff Immelt, GE Global Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said as part of the offering, GE and NNPC have identified some major national power projects in the country and are currently developing the scope of intervention in the projects which have a potential combined capacity of about 4.4 gigawatts.
Welcoming the GE team to the NNPC in Abuja, Group Managing Director of the Corporation, Dr. Maikanti Baru expressed delight in the interest GE had to intervene in some vital operational areas of the Corporation.