INTELS has competitive advantage over other terminal operators- NPA boss

Hadiza Bala-Usman, managing director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), has said that INTELS Nigeria Limited has competitive advantage over other terminal operators, in handling of oil and gas cargo in Nigeria.

Speaking the previous Monday in Lagos, on a Television Continental (TVC) Business Programme, Usman described INTELS as a well-established terminal operator that has been in business for more than 30 years.

”INTELS should not shy away from competing with other terminals. They should welcome the fact that having established their logistics business, they should be able to compete and get all the cargo to themselves. If you have been operating and doing this for years and now someone else is coming, you should have an edge,” she said.

Hadiza also expressed similar sentiment in October 2016 during her maiden visit to the Onne Oil and Gas Free Zone. After a tour of the multimillion dollars facility, Usman said she was impressed by the high quality facilities, ‘efficient and effective’ services provided by INTELS.

She described the facility as ‘very tidy’ and the infrastructure as being “deployed efficiently and effectively”.

Silvano Bellinato, general manager of INTELS said when Dakuku Peterside, director-general of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), visited the facility recently, that the high quality facilities and services in Onne were as a result of the company’s huge investments over years, which runs into several billions of dollars.

“INTELS has been a trusted partner to major oil and gas producing companies in Nigeria and a partner to the NPA in the development of ports infrastructure and service provision in Nigeria. In over 30 years, we have added substantial value to the Nigeria’s oil and gas service industry such that operators found our services strategic to their operations.

According to him, INTELS has helped to boost the contributions of the oil sector to Nigerian economy by enabling them to create employment for Nigerians.

“To achieve our vision of providing an integrated, efficient, reliable and cost-effective logistics solution to the oil and gas players, we introduced an innovative one-stop-shop oil service centre designed to meet the logistics needs of oil producing companies in one location.

“This innovative concept has enhanced service delivery and turnaround time for oil and gas related projects,” Bellinato said.

In a related development, group under the auspices of the Nigerian Importers Integrity Association (NIIA) has said that no fewer than 20,000 jobs in the Niger-Delta region could be lost as a result of the ongoing face-off between NPA and INTELS.

Godwin Onyekazi, NIIA President said it was unfortunate that a business disagreement, which could have been amicably resolved on a roundtable, was allowed to degenerate to the point where more than 20,000 jobs were put on the line.

Recall that the NPA recently came up with a new policy tagged ‘De-categorisation of Terminals at the Nation’s Seaports,’ which intends to rid INTELS’ off its exclusive right to handle oil and gas cargo in its already built Oil and Gas Free Trade Zone, against the initial agreement entered into with the private sector operator during port concession in 2006.

INTELS went to court to contest the proposed policy review and Justice A. R. Mohammed of the Federal High Court, Abuja few months back, issued an interim order directing the NPA and four others to maintain status quo in a suit filed by INTELS against the new policy.

INTELS, which filed the suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/417/2017 at the Federal High Court Abuja, is asking the court to, among other reliefs, issue an order stopping the NPA from implementing the proposed policy review.

“INTELS is one of the largest employers of labour especially in the Niger Delta region. It should therefore concern well-meaning Nigerians that NPA is unable to amicably resolve its differences with their partner,” Onyekazi.

Onyekazi, who described the face-off as more political, blamed INTELS’ perceived links to a top politician in the country as their sin. “This political dimension to the entire saga makes the intervention of the Acting President Yemi Osinbajo, imperative.”

“If the NPA continues to treat INTELS the bad way, oil and gas majors that rely on Onne for their logistics services will simply move to Angola, Sao Tome and Principe or South Africa to enjoy the kind of services they enjoy at INTELS. This will result to huge revenue and job loss in the Niger Delta region, estimated at 20, 000,” he said.

Uzoamaka Anagor-Ewuzie