BRASS Fertilizer & Petrochemical Company Limited (BFPCL) has secured a $6 billion offshore facility for the take-off of its methanol plant in Bayelsa State.

In a statement, Chief Ben Okoye, the company’s Vice Chairman, said, “Phase one of the project has commenced following the securing of $6 billion from BP Oil International Limited, London. We also secured 25 years 300millions of standard cubic feet per day (mmscf/d) gas supply from Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd (SPDC-JV).”

“The project is designed to be built in two phases and phase one which is expected to come on stream in 2020, will produce 1.66 million metric tonnes (MT) of methanol and 1.3 million metric tonnes of urea per annum. Phase one also includes a dedicated Export Jetty and a 300 mmscf/d gas processing plant. On completion, the project is expected to generate an annual turnover of $1.5 billion. The project is extremely strategic to the country’s agricultural and industrial sectors. It will contribute to the country’s self-sufficiency in fertilizer and methanol based industrial raw materials.”

BP Oil International Limited is a global company which distributes and markets crude oil. It deals with forwards and contracts for BP plc. The company was incorporated in 1936 and is based in Sunbury on Thames, United Kingdom. BP Oil International Limited operates as a subsidiary of BP Plc.

Okoye stated further that the contract was recently signed at the London office of BP Oil International for exclusive offtake of methanol production from Phase 1 of the BFPCL project in Brass, Bayelsa State, over a period of 10 years. The Agreement is a key condition precedent for securing the foreign direct investment from the project lenders and international investors.

“Attracting a major international player like BP bears testimony to the tremendous support for the project by the current administration of the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN), the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), as well as the hard work and commitment of the project developers,” he said. On jobs creation, he said: “The project will employ 15,000 workers indirectly during construction and 5,000 permanent workers after the project is completed.”