HBM Nigeria Plc has said its newly commissioned Compressed Natural Gas facility at its Mfamosing plant in Cross River State will create opportunities for communities, contractors, transporters and customers across the state and beyond.
The company stated this during the commissioning of the high-capacity CNG station at its Mfamosing Plant, saying the facility formed part of its broader drive to build a cleaner, faster and more efficient logistics network.
The Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of HBM Nigeria Plc, Lolu Alade-Akinyemi, said the investment would not only improve the company’s operational efficiency but also open up opportunities for people and businesses connected to its logistics value chain.
According to him, the facility would support the company’s transition towards cleaner and more cost-effective energy sources while creating opportunities for communities, customers, contractors and transporters.
“We are happy that this would create more opportunities for our communities, customers, contractors, transporters, people in Cross River and the wider community in Nigeria,” Alade-Akinyemi said.
The new CNG facility has an installed capacity of 144,000 standard cubic metres per day and is designed to serve up to 150 trucks daily in its first phase.
The company said the facility, which operates round the clock, is equipped with two pumps and four dispensing points to reduce refuelling queues and truck waiting time.
HBM added that the second phase of the project, expected to come on stream by October 2026, would increase the facility’s capacity to approximately 250 trucks daily.
The Logistics Director of HBM Nigeria, Osaze Aghatise, said the project represented a major shift in the company’s deployment of CNG, noting that the company had used the fuel in its logistics operations for nine years.
He said the difference with the new facility was the scale of deployment, which would improve truck availability, reduce waiting time and accelerate the delivery of products to customers.
“For us, the real value is what this does for our customers and our operations — shorter refuelling queues, reduced truck waiting time, better truck availability and faster turnaround,” Aghatise said.
He added that every reduction in waiting time would enable the company’s trucks to return to the road faster and improve delivery efficiency.
Also speaking, the Cross River State Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Pastor Ekpenyong Ene Cobhams, congratulated HBM Nigeria on the investment and said the state government remained committed to creating an investment-friendly environment.
Cobhams said the development demonstrated the importance of adopting more efficient sources of energy for the movement of goods and services.
“This is an era of not just mobility but also of efficiency in the choice of power sources used to deliver goods and services. We are proud of HBM Nigeria Plc, especially for its commitment to corporate social responsibility,” he said.
The commissioner said the state government’s support for investors was aimed at ensuring that businesses operating in Cross River derived value from their investments while contributing to the state’s economic development.
A transporter and Managing Director of Joza Global Logistics Limited, Emmanuel Usiakpor, also described the CNG facility as a development with significant benefits for transporters.
HBM Nigeria said the expansion of its CNG infrastructure was part of its wider logistics transformation agenda, which focuses on operational efficiency, improved asset utilisation, faster delivery and the gradual reduction of reliance on conventional fuels.
The company said the investment would strengthen the resilience of its logistics network while supporting its sustainability objectives.
The commissioning was attended by the Cross River State Commissioner for Mineral Resources (Solid Minerals), Ntufam Effiom-Ekaha Otu; Village Head of Mfamosing, Ntufam Paul Ntui; Member representing the area in the Cross River State House of Assembly, Linus Bassey, and other government officials, community leaders and HBM Nigeria executives.
