Tuesday, 26 June 2012 00:00

The Bank of Industry (BoI) says it has provided the Lagos Deep Offshore Logistics Base (LADOL) with a financial support of $17.8 million to help reposition the company’s activities while also helping it to diversifying into other areas of business, especially the oil and gas sector.

The  General Manager in charge of LADOL project in BoI, Mr.Issac Offor   disclosed this during a visit by the House Committee on Industry and top management staff of BoI to the firm.

LADOL is a fully integrated and independent and secure Base anchored around a quay of 1,000 meter. The base provides all logistical services including stevedoring, fabrication and assembly yards, people management, catering, bunkering of fuel and water, facilities for the supply of bulk materials, helicopter base, open and closed storage facilities, sewage and waste treatment, potable water and medical services.

Offor explained that the partnership between the two organizations started about four years ago, adding that the need to support the efforts of the federal government in the area of shoring up its local content initiative informed the decision of the bank to support LADOL.

Besides, he said the need to increase capacity in the oil and gas sector to help industrialize the country in the field of oil and gas motivated the bank to throw its weight behind LADOL’s, projects, stressing it was regrettable that the number of indigenous firms providing support services in the oil and gas sector has remained low, hence, the need to encourage the activities of LADOL.

According to him, LADOL has repaid over $5 million out of the $17.8 million it borrowed from the bank, noting that so far it has not defaulted in its loan repayment obligations to the bank.

Responding, Chairman of the House Committee, Mohammed Ogoshi Onawo, said it was gratifying to note that the firm had put the loan into a judicious use by expanding the scope of its operations to international standards, saying, “this is a story of courage, endeurance, success and hope for the nations oil and gas industry”.

“I am impressed that this organization had even ventured into operation six years before they needed to invite BoI for assistance. We have to be glad that we have an indigenous organization such as this who believes in value addition to whatever they do. We are equally happy with their revenue generation to government coffers...and their response to loan repayment. We therefore urge management of the Bank of Industry to keep their doors open to LADOL should they be in further need” he added.

Speaking earlier, Managing Director of LADOL Integrated Logistics Enterprise, Dr.Amy Jadesimi, informed that LADOL, “The Base”, is a new state of the art logistics base being developed opposite the Port of Apapa in Lagos.

She explained further that LADOL is owned and managed by LiLe and is located in the LADOL Free Zone, specifically conceived and designed to support deep water offshore oil and gas operations and projects in and around Nigeria.

“LADOL is the first and only facility of its kind in Lagos and will ensure that companies benefiting from Nigeria’s deep offshore oil and gas reserves are seared by companies domiciled in Nigeria to service their operations, thereby creating jobs for Nigerians as well as ensuring training, knowledge and technology transfer into Nigeria,” she said.