Background

Minerals represent yet another of the generous endowments of natural resources existing in Bayelsa State. The state is rich in oil, natural gas and a variety of solid minerals. These create opportunities for diverse kinds of investment in the various economic sectors including energy, manufacturing and services.

Energy Sector

Enormous investment exist in the energy sector in Bayelsa State and comes under two sub-sectors, namely oil and gas and power generation.

Oil & Gas - The oil and gas or petroleum sub-sector of the economy is the most prominent in Bayelsa State, and indeed Nigeria, because it forms the pivot of the nation’s economy. Oil and gas from the Niger Delta region as a whole, account for about 90 per cent of the nation’s foreign exchange earnings. Bayelsa State contributes about 40 per cent of this wealth. The state’s enormous reserved of crude oil creates ample room for foreign investment. Of the three giant oil reservoirs in the Niger Delta with a potential for 1bn barrels production, two are in Bayelsa State, namely Nembe Creek and Gbarian field. The state is a hive of oil industry activity as operators set up their facilities upland, in the swamps and creeks, and off shore. The major operators in the oil industry in the state are Shell, Agip, Chevron Texaco, Consolidated Oil and State Oil. Opportunities abound for new investments especially in the following areas.

Petroleum Prospecting & Refining - Recent development in the Nigerian petroleum sub-sector have facilitated local and private participation in upstream activities. Some Niger Delta state governments and indigenous companies have been offered marginal oil fields to prospect. With the abolition of the onshore-off-shore oil dichotomy, the littoral states, of which Bayelsa is one, stand to derive enormous gains. Private refineries have also been licensed. Foreign investors have opportunities to entre into discussions with the Bayelsa State government about joint venture partnerships to operate in the upstream petroleum industry. Currently, the nation has three petroleum refineries located at Port Harcourt, River; Warri, Delta State, and Kaduna, Kaduna State. However, there is need for a refinery in Bayelsa State.

Gas Plants - Nigeria flares about 70 per cent of its associated natural gas in the Niger Delta region. Such flares are found in all flow stations spread on-shore and off-shore in Bayelsa and other Niger Delta state, even as gas gathering projects of Chevron Texaco and Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Company (NLNG) are on-going. The Oluasiri Gas Supply Plant in Nembe Local Government Area of the state supplies 53 per cent of the NLNG’s gas feed stock in Bonny, in Rivers State.

Opportunities exist for investors to build gas plants and utilize available gas for production of LPG cooking as and industrial gases, gas and industrial gases, which are in high demand. In the urban centres, LPG is the most sought sources of cooking gas. In Yenagoa, the Bayelsa capital, there is LPG plant and retailers get their stock from Port Harcourt, the neighbouring Rivers State capital.

Petrol Chemical Industry - Petroleum production in the Niger Delta offers potential for investment in the petrochemical industry for the production of chemicals and allied products for industrial use; for example, plastics and fertilizer industries.

Oil Servicing - In Bayelsa State, the oil industry offers opportunities for technical services ranging from seismic and othe geotechnical, drilling, pipeline, dredging and water transport, diving and underwater services, to environmental response and management services.

Power Generation

Independent Power Plants - As well as being a basic household amenity.  Power is the bedrock of all economic activities.  In Bayels State, the government provides domestic electricity free of charge through the state-owned Kolo Creek Gas Turbine Plant at Imiringi.  While its power supply reaches most upland areas, it is hoped that the coastal local government areas will soon be connected.  There is great room for private investors to ventures into electricity generation and supply in areas where power remains inadequate.  This is especially in the light of local industrial take-off, when industries are expected to be situated in various parts of the state close to the raw material source.  With abundantly available gas at the various flow stations as a ready source of power, independent power plants would operate with ease.  The recent federal government policy on deregulation favours the investment.

Solar Energy - The peculiar terrain of Bayelsa, one of criss-crossing rivers and creeks, freshwater and mangrove forests may pose difficulty in the generation and routing of power lines to the urban and local communities in such areas.  This creates the potential for investment in a solar energy plant for power generation and supply.  Bayelsa’s long coastline, which is free of vegetation, provides a suitable location for such plants.  Investors may open up discussions with the Bayelsa government to develop these opportunities.