- Kachikwu Challenges NNPC as MRS Unveils Biggest Jetty
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, has urged the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation to begin the computerisation of its assets such as fuel depots in a bid to stem the financial losses being incurred.
Kachikwu stated this on Saturday in Lagos at the inauguration of the Dantata jetty, built by MRS Holdings Limited in Apapa with a capacity to hold 120,000 metric tonnes deadweight, described as the biggest in Africa.
He congratulated MRS on the expansion at the terminal, saying the lube expansion being carried out by the company would likely be the biggest on the continent when completed.
He said, “What I enjoy about this facility particularly is its computerisation scheme – the IT application. This is a facility where every drop of oil or product is IT-applied. You can’t load anything without it showing in the computer. This is the vision that I had and it is still the vision that I have.
“It is absolutely important that we get NNPC who is the owner of the biggest assets in this field to align with companies that are doing this and begin to computerise.”
The Chairman, MRS Holdings, Alhaji Sayyu Dantata, said the construction of the project started in 2013, adding, “We thought that we could do something that will save the country an enormous amount of money in terms of the costs that we incur outside.”
The Group Executive Director, Supply and Trading, MRS Holdings, Amina Marina said, ‘‘The maximum vessel size we could bring in before now was a vessel with 20,000 metric tonnes.’’