Nigerian integrated petroleum products marketing company, Ardova Plc, has expressed its optimism to complete and bring on stream its 20,000 metric tonnes Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) storage facility by December 2022.

According to the company, the LPG facility, which sits on an 8.8 hectares of land in Lagos and reputed to be West Africa’s largest LPG storage facility, underscores Ardova’s commitment to growing revenues from cleaner fuels.

Chief Executive Officer of the organisation, Mr. Olumide Adeosun, made the comments recently during a ground-breaking ceremony to commemorate the ongoing construction of the LPG storage facility in Ijora, Lagos.

He said the event marked an important step in Ardova’s evolution to an integrated energy company, stressing that that company was looking forward to a future where renewables and cleaner fuels represent a considerable segment of its product offering and balance sheet.

Adeosun noted that the facility, when completed, would place Ardova at the top of the industry in receiving, blending, storing, and distributing the product to both commercial and retail customers.

He said: “It also indicates the direction of travel for our company, as it spotlights our confidence in LPG as the fuel of the future in Nigeria, in congruence with both the Nigerian government’s gas expansion plan which seeks to make LPG mainstream at the end of the decade and the present growing rate of in-country consumer adoption of the product.

“Ardova’s investment in this facility supersedes the expected commercial returns, as the company is equally focused on the positive environmental and human impact that increased access to gas will create.”

The CEO noted that the company was also particularly interested in the improved socio-economic prospects the development portends for Nigerian citizen.

He added that it was especially good for rural consumers, whose reliance on biomass such as firewood makes them vulnerable to attendant health risks and reduces much needed ground cover provided by trees at alarming speed.

Adeosun added: “By December 2022, when construction is completed, we will have a facility that will be both best in class and future ready.”

He revealed that the firms involved in the construction, fabrication, and sourcing of components to be used in the project had been benchmarked against the highest standards of Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) management, as well as Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) specifications.

“I am confident that we will deliver a world class facility that will continue to yield results for the company in decades to come,” he added.