Intels: Sustained investment, rising profile

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The about 190 companies presently operating in the Onne Oil
and Gas Free Zone, Rivers State, South-South Nigeria, with total investments valued at
over 6.0 billion United States Dollars (USD), place leading logistics services
provider, Intels Nigeria Limited in the pantheon of top
industry players.

Through the combination of
direct and indirect employment, over 240,000 persons and their family members
are supported by the companies and their investments in the Onne Oil
and Gas Free Zone.

The facility has come a long way
over the years as an oil and gas licensee. Available data fromIntels revealed that the facility recorded
eight companies operating there in 1997; a number which rocketed in seven years
to the 95 companies in 2004. Thereafter, by 2014, in a space of 10 years, there
were 170 companies operating at the Onne Oil and Gas Free Zone. As at May 18,
2015, there were 190 companies operating at the facility.

Onne Oil and Gas Free Zone one-stop-shop
conceptualisation, according to Intels,
includes the development of port infrastructure such as quay walls, warehouses,
stacking areas, workshops, and the provision equipment and manufacturing
plants.

Providing a historical
background to its Onne facility, Intels explained that it had started off in
1988 with an area of 70 hectares, a 1,224-metre jetty, and 350 employees. By
May 2015, these had increased to an area of 833 hectares, jetty measuring 5,415
metres, and 4,479 employees.

In 1988, the Onne Port
Complex (OPC) comprised of the Federal Lighter Terminal (FLT), Federal Ocean
Terminal (FOT), and Onne Estate.

If the FLT comprised a 924-metre
jetty, six-metre draught, industrial area of 350,000 square metres, quay apron
of 22,835 square metres, warehouse space of 14,540 square metres, and offices
measuring 1,550 square metres. All had spiked by 2015.

Details of the
FLT in 2015, according toIntels, were: jetty, 1,677 metres; draught, 10 – 12
metres; industrial area, 2,290,894 square metres; and offices, 22,745 square
metres.

Similarly, the FOT, which recorded a 30,000-square
metre area, and 300-metre jetty in 1988 by 2015 boasted jetty berth of 2,933
metres; draught, 10 – 12 metres; industrial area, 551,286 square metres; quay
apron, 99,220 square metres; warehouse, 68,009 square metres; and offices,
14,919 square metres.

Intels has also recorded transformational
efforts at the Warri Port, Delta State, and the Calabar Port, Cross River State, both in
South-South Nigeria.

Intels explained that the Warri Old Port in the 1990s recorded the
following: jetty, 732 metres; draught, seven metres; industrial area, 342,000
square metres; quay apron, 19,561 square metres; warehouses, 4,567 square
metres; and offices, 701 square metres. In 2015, according to Intels, the Warri New Port recorded as follows: jetty,
1,533 metres; draught, 10 metres; industrial area, 290,000 square metres; quay
apron, 45,990 square metres; warehouses, 16,458 square metres; and offices,
4,616 metres.

Intels gave details of its facilities at Calabar Port in 2015 thus: jetty, 380 metres;
draught, seven metres; industrial area, 38,000 square metres; quay apron,
14,815 square metres; warehouses, 6,480 square metres; and offices, 600 square
metres.

In developing port
infrastructure in Onne, Warri, and Calabar, Intels is envisaging 8,000 metres of jetty;
3,700,000 square metres of industrial area; 250,000 square metres of quay
apron; 200,000 square metres of warehouses; and 79,000 square metres of
offices.

On its equipment pool, the
company stated: “Intels offers the most technologically advanced and reliable
equipment to provide the best discharging/cargo handling/efficient port
handling and terminal operations, including heavy lift and oversized cargo with the aim to minimise the
vessel turn-around time.”

Intels listed its equipment thus: 69 cranes
of between 30 and 250 tons safe working load (SWL); 120 forklifts and other
equipment of between three and 40 tons SWL;
166 trucks; 154 trailers; 26 health safety environment (HSE) and fire
equipment; 124 generators and mobile lights; and other support equipment.