Nigeria launches giant bitumen project

www.bday.co.za   LAGOS - Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo has launched a gigantic bitumen production project in the southwest Ode-Irele region in a bid to diversify the country's sources of foreign exchange.

Nigeria, the world's sixth largest oil exporter, currently derives more than 95 percent of its foreign currency earnings from petroleum.

The commercial project launched on Monday signalled the commencement of the exploitation of massive deposits of bituminous tarsand, reputed to be second only to those of Venezuela, officials said.

The country's bitumen deposits are located in four southwest states of Edo, Ogun, Ondo and Lagos, according to geo-physical surveys carried out more than a century ago when they was first discovered by Germans.

Nigeria is believed to have at least 42 billion barrels of bitumen reserves.

Obasanjo said that the country would reap great benefits from commercial exploitation of bitumen such as employment, foreign exchange and development of infrastructure.

It is expected that more than 20,000 workers will be employed before the end of July for bitumen exploration, chairman of the Bitumen Exploration and Exploitation Company Nigeria Limited Olu Edegboro told journalists.

Bitumen is used for for road construction, the production of fuel oil and petrochemicals.