By Adedapo Adesanya
One of Africa’s largest foods, mining, manufacturing, and industrial conglomerates, BUA Group, has set its sights on the energy market with its focus on gas as it signed an agreement to establish a mini Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) plant in Nigeria.
The company signed a deal with CIMC ENRIC, a global leader in the energy equipment industry, in partnership with Axxela, for the establishment of a 700-ton-per-day mini LNG project in Lagos on Monday.
According to a statement, this strategic agreement marks a significant milestone in BUA Group’s expansion into the energy sector and reaffirms its commitment to sustainable energy solutions across its business operations.
Speaking on this landmark project, the chairman of BUA Group, Mr Abdul Samad Rabiu, said his organisation remains dedicated to utilising cleaner, energy-efficient sources for its operations across Nigeria in line with its short to long-term ESG commitments and sustainability initiatives.
He added that whilst BUA already utilises gas as a major energy source across its over 1,000MW captive power plants for its operations across Nigeria, the mini LNG project, upon completion, will enhance the all-year availability of cleaner energy and support BUA Group’s growing industrial power demands.
“We are excited about the prospects of this project and look forward to a fruitful collaboration with CIMC ENRIC and Axxela,” he added.
This foray intensifies Mr Rabiu’s competition with his business rival, Mr Alike Dangote, whose 650,000 barrels per day refinery is set to produce its first batch of petroleum products soon.
Yesterday, it took delivery of an additional one million barrels of crude oil, two weeks after taking the delivery of the first cargo of one million barrels of Agbami crude grade from Shell International Trading and Shipping Company Limited (STASCO), one of the largest trading companies in Nigeria as well as globally, trading over 8 million barrels of crude oil per day.
The latest cargo, which sailed to the facility’s Single-Point Mooring (SPM) where it was discharged into the refinery’s crude oil tanks, has increased total deliveries to about two million barrels.
