The Cross River State Government has concluded arrangements with a commercial bank to acquire Mainland Oil and Gas Tank Farm in Calabar to make access to petroleum products easier.
The acquisition, which will come in form of a lease that will be funded by the bank, is expected to gulp N615m. The Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Mrs. Rosemary Archibong, disclosed this on Thursday in Calabar as one of the decisions taken at the end of the state executive council meeting chaired by Governor Ben Ayade.
Other decisions taken at the meeting were the procurement and distribution of 181 transformers to boost electricity supply in Calabar, and the planting of five million trees across the state.
According to Archibong, the decision to invest in the downstream petroleum sector is to facilitate access to refined products for retailers in the state.
“You will agree with me that it has been difficult to access petroleum products in the state. So, the idea behind this is to ease access for Cross Riverians. We are therefore acquiring Mainland Oil and Gas Tank Farm. It is to be done on lease and funded by a bank at the cost of N615m,” the commissioner said.
Speaking on the purchase of transformers, Archibong said the state government decided to intervene in the power sector because of the epileptic supply of electricity to Calabar and environs.
She noted that the intervention would help address the problem of load shedding as a result of inadequate transformers in the metropolis.