Petroluleum products marketing giant, Ardova Plc, at the weekend it would finish construction of its new world-class Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) storage facility located in Ijora, Lagos by December.

The LPG facility which will sit on 8.8 hectares and have a combined storage capacity of 20,000 metric tonnes, the company said in a statement, underscores a commitment to grow revenues from cleaner fuels.Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony,  Olumide Adeosun, Chief Executive Officer, Ardova Plc, said the “event marks an important step in our evolution to an integrated energy company, as it draws us closer to our projection of a future where renewables and cleaner fuels represent a considerable segment of our product offering and balance sheet.”

He assured that the “facility, when completed will be West Africa’s largest LPG storage complex, placing Ardova at the top of the industry in receiving, blending, storing, and distributing the product to both commercial and retail customers.

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 increasedaccess to gas will create.

“The company, he stressed, is “also particularly interested in the improved socio-economic prospects it portends for citizens of our beloved country, especially 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 that “by December 2022, when construction is completed, we will have a facility that will be both best in class and future ready.

The firms involved in the construction, fabrication, and sourcing of every single component to be used in this project have 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.”