Indorama Unveils Expansion Plan as Nigeria Targets Petrochemical Industrialisation

• NLNG: Nigeria must build local industrial capabilities 

•Gas infrastructure critical to petrochemical expansion, NGIC

Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt

Indorama Eleme Petrochemicals Limited has unveiled a fresh wave of investments aimed at expanding Nigeria’s petrochemical and fertiliser production capacity, as industry stakeholders call for stronger gas infrastructure, local manufacturing capabilities, and policies that will turn the country’s hydrocarbon resources into long-term industrial wealth.

The company’s Managing Director, Mr. Manish Mundra, represented by Head of Fertiliser Manufacturing, Upendra Singh, disclosed the expansion plans on Tuesday, at the 7th International Midstream and Downstream Oil and Gas Conference.

The conference was organised by Centre for Gas Refining and Petrochemical Engineering, University of Port Harcourt, in conjunction with Nigerian Society of Chemical Engineers.

Under the plan, Indorama is scheduled to commence a Gas Terminal 3 and gas treatment unit project in the fourth quarter of 2026, with completion targeted for 2029.

The company will also begin a cracker debottlenecking and new polymer project in the first quarter of 2027, expected to be completed by 2030.

Another major component is a 1.75 million-tonnes-per-year methanol plant, marking Indorama’s diversification from petrochemicals and fertiliser into methanol production.

The project is scheduled to commence in the third quarter of 2027, with additional capacity to be developed through 2031.

Mundra said the investments reflected Indorama’s strategy of expanding domestic conversion of Nigeria’s gas resources into higher-value products rather than relying primarily on raw hydrocarbon exports.

He said Nigeria should aspire to become a “hydrocarbon powerhouse for its industrialisation, not just its exports”, stressing that petrochemicals would remain indispensable to modern life through products, such as fertilisers, polymers, packaging materials, and chemicals.

According to him, “Indorama currently produces 33.8 million tonnes of products globally, including 10.3 million tonnes in Africa.”

The group is also a leading global producer of PET, synthetic gloves, and fertilisers.

Mundra added that Indorama, currently the world’s fifth-largest fertiliser producer, expected to become the third-largest globally by 2029 or early 2030.

Mundra urged Nigeria to move from an extraction-based economy to one built around industrial ecosystems and local capabilities, stating that the country’s greatest long-term asset is its people rather than its finite oil and gas reserves.

Managing Director of NLNG, Adeleye Falade, represented by Manager, Future Opportunities, Olufemi Lawal, said Nigeria’s local-content policy must evolve beyond the use of local intermediaries to genuine domestic manufacturing.

Falade challenged the industry to develop Nigerian-made valves, compressors, cables and other equipment currently imported from overseas.

He said the country needed infrastructure, appropriate financing, and long-term business thinking to develop local manufacturing capabilities that could eventually serve export markets.

He also advocated an ecosystem approach, citing Singapore’s Jurong Island, where companies shared infrastructure, utilities, and other services to lower costs and attract new investment.

According to him, “NLNG has created substantial economic value since inception, while supplying about 500,000 tonnes of LPG to the domestic market and contributing to employment, taxes and other national benefits.”

He said NLNG was targeting net-zero emissions by 2040 and was pursuing measures covering emissions measurement, reduction, avoidance and mitigation, including carbon capture, utilisation and storage.

Managing Director of Nigerian Gas Infrastructure Company (NGIC), Engr Audu Ibrahim, represented by Executive Director, Asset Management, Engr Badamosi Olatunde, said sustained gas supply would be critical to the success of Nigeria’s emerging petrochemical industry.

Ibrahim said the African fertiliser market, valued at $9.9 billion, was projected to reach approximately $15 billion by 2031, creating significant opportunities for Nigeria.

He stated, “Within Africa, we have a market of 9.9 billion for fertiliser, and it’s projected to be around 15 billion USD by 2031. So, we have a lot to do in terms of sustaining gas natural gas supply to the industry at large.”

Ibrahim identified gas volume, infrastructure, quality, economic viability, resilience and supply certainty as critical tests for sustaining the industry.

He said NGIC’s expanding transmission network could support industrial hubs and stressed the need for long-term investment certainty to encourage gas producers, transporters, and industrial off-takers.

National Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) said it was implementing reforms to improve gas market transparency, infrastructure access and investment confidence.

NMDPRA Managing Director, Mallam Rabiu Umar, represented by Regional Coordinator, SS Ibrahim Dimowo, said Nigerian Gas Transportation Network Code would promote open and competitive access to gas transportation infrastructure.

Umar said the authority was also deploying digital platforms for licensing, permit verification, and regulatory monitoring, while encouraging investment in gas supply, pipelines, storage, processing facilities, modular petrochemical projects, public-private partnerships, and research collaborations between universities and industry.

For his part, Chairman of the Governing Board of Centre for Gas Refining and Petrochemical Engineering, Engr Anthony Ogbuigwe, said Nigeria must stop viewing oil and gas merely as primary commodities and focus on converting them into products that generate greater economic value.

Ogbuigwe cited Indorama’s transformation of natural gas into fertilisers, polypropylene, and polyethylene as evidence of what domestic value addition could achieve.

He stated that Nigeria had historically struggled with state-owned industrial assets because of bureaucratic interference, contrasting this with Indorama’s rapid turnaround of the Eleme petrochemical plant after privatisation.

He urged stakeholders to embrace innovation and value addition, stating that the greatest wealth lies not in exporting raw resources but in developing secondary and tertiary products that can also be exported.