The Ondo state government may have recorded a major breakthrough in its<\/p>\n
quest for economic stability as arrangements have begun for the
\nexploitation of its Bitumen, being one of the Mineral resources the state
\nhas in commercial quantity.<\/p>\n
Briefing newsmen on the development in Akure on Sunday, the state’s
\nCommissioner for Information, Kayode Akinmade, said the state government
\nhas secured the licence to exploit the commodity through Beecon Nigeria
\nlimited, a concern where the government has near complete ownership.<\/p>\n
He said government has before now signed a Memorandum of Understanding
\nwith an American company, Liquefied Resources and its also expected to
\nsign a Joint Operating Agreement with the same outfit for the immediate
\nexploitation of Bitumen which the state has in large deposit on
\nlocations that stretches across Ondo -Edo and Ondo -Ogun boundaries .<\/p>\n
The Commissioner informed that officials of Liquefied Resources led
\nby its President , Thomas Cooley are already in the country as they are
\nexpected to meet with the government tomorrow ( Tuesday) and finalise all
\narrangement regarding the Joint Operating Agreement.<\/p>\n
As part of the visit, the officials would visit the proposed sites and
\nalso set a date for takeoff of the proposed Bitumen extraction and
\nupgrading plant.<\/p>\n
As part of the agreement, Liquefied Resources is expected to wholly fund
\nthe project, even as the Commissioner insists that there will be
\nexploitation of Bitumen in the state at no cost to the government,
\nadding that the Joint Operating Agreement will regulate profit sharing
\namong the handling company and the government.<\/p>\n
The government’s spokesperson described the operation as very expensive
\nand more demanding than exploiting oil, but mentioned however that
\nLiquefied Resources are capable of handling it, especially with the
\navailability of new technology at its disposal to handle such project.<\/p>\n
Registering what is projected to be the impact of the development on the
\nstate, Akinmade mentioned that the exploitation of the commodity will
\ngenerate massive employment which he said will be a consolidation of sort
\non the jobs being provided for the youth in the state through
\nAgriculture, a sector government has concentrated upon in recent time as
\nits own reaction to the apparent need for economy diversification.<\/p>\n
Emphasising on the capability of government to solve youth unemployment
\nchallenge through the Bitumen exploitation project as well as its
\nongoing job creation initiatives through Agriculture, Akinmade offered,
\nthat the Ondo Bitumen comes up with accompanying crude oil which will
\nin no small measure affect the economy of the state positively.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Ondo state government may have recorded a major breakthrough in its quest for economic stability as arrangements have begun for the exploitation of its Bitumen, being one of the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":48579,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48578","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n