The Nigerian Mainstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has issued a license for the establishment of Belema Sweet Expert Terminal, to facilitate the export and import of oil in Nigeria.
At the presentation of the license in Abuja on Tuesday, Chief Executive of NMDPRA, Farouk Ahmed, highlighted the Federal Government’s commitment to promoting the ease of doing business in Nigeria.
With the issuance of the license to Belema Sweet Expert Terminal, an indigenous oil company, it became the second to acquire such a license, with the first being the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Exploration and Production Limited.
According to the NMDPRA boss, no company or entity has the right to engage in any exploration activity in the country, except the two companies, until they acquire the appropriate license by the Authority.
In presenting the license to the companies, he emphasized that no entity had the right to operate or establish any facility for the export or import of crude oil or petroleum products, except in accordance with the Authority’s appropriate license.
Belema Sweet Export Terminal in Kula, Rivers State, which has been granted a license, has a capacity for 2 million barrels of crude oil. Meanwhile, NNPC Exploration and Production Limited, has a capacity of 2,179,704 barrels of crude oil terminal at Offshore Akwa Ibom State, within the waters of the Exclusive Economic Zone.
Tein Jack-Rich, CEO of Belema Oil, expressed his appreciation at the great milestone achieved by the company and the Buhari-led Federal Government, attesting to it as a success story, merely two weeks into the administration.
With the establishment of Belema Sweet Crude Export Terminal, Nigeria now ranks as the first country in the world to establish a crude oil export terminal that is climate-conscious and has a hybrid capability – operated through a virtual power plant model, combining traditional and renewable energy integration, in line with energy efficiency and sustainability.
He also disclosed that the project could create over 100,000 jobs for families in the Niger Delta and Nigeria at large, which may assist in reducing unemployment rates in the country.
Mr. Modibbo Ahmed, who received the license on behalf of the NNPC, announced that the crude oil terminal could be available in the next one to three months, while Belema Sweet Export Terminal Project is designed to be the first hybrid crude oil export terminal in the world.
