Trade & Commerce

Niger Delta University is born into a state (Bayelsa state) with abundance of oil and gas, and agricultural resources such as fishing, farming, palm oil milling, lumbering, trading, carving, weaving amongst other opportunities. Bayelsa State is a major oil and gas producing state and it contributes about 40% of Nigeria’s oil and gas production. There are hundreds of oil wells and flow stations across the state. Oloibiri in Ogbia Local Government Area of the state is where oil was first struck in Nigeria in commercial quantities in 1956. Gas production activities are currently being intensified in the State.

The Brass LNG Gas Supply Plant that supplies 53% of the gas feedstock to the LNG plant in Bonny is located in Oluasiri in Nembe Local Government Area of Bayelsa State. Gbarain, Ubie LNG Gas Plant in Yenagoa LGA of the state, when completed will not only supply gas to Bonny Plant, but will also supply gas to the Electric Power Plants in the state. This will add to the national power grid. The major oil exploration and production companies operating in the State are Shell, Agip and ChevronTexaco.

The Kolo Creek Gas Turbine Project owned by the Bayelsa State Government supplies electricity to Yenagoa, the State Capital, and surrounding towns and villages including the University. Obunagha Gas Turbine will supply power to parts of Yenagoa, Sagbama, and Kolokuma/Opokuma LGAs.

Bayelsa State is, presently, the only State in Nigeria that provides electricity for itself without any supply from the National Electricity Grid. In addition to oil and gas, the State has large reserves of clay, sand and gravel’s of importance to the industrial sector. The land and climate in Bayelsa support the cultivation of both food and cash crops. These include oil palm, rubber, cocoa, rice, plantain, banana, yam, cocoa yams, coconut, cassava, sugarcane, sweet potatoes and pineapple.

Bayelsa has a natural and environmental advantage for profitable investment in rice production. The floodplain soils back swamp soils and the mangrove swamp which are suitable for rice cultivation constitute about 7,134,68km (52.42 per cent) of the total land cover of Bayelsa. Amongst rice farms are The Burma rice project undertaken by Agip, the 1,200 hectare Peremabiri rice project established in 1958 by the Niger Delta Development Board and few farms in small private holdings are operational. The major private rice farms like Otuokpoti rice farm in Ogbia local government area and the Akassa rice farm in the Brass area, which provide popular and high -demand rice for the state and its neighbours. There is also a Commercial Cassava Starch Processing Factory at Ebedebiri in Sagbama local government area.

Bayelsa State is a major producer of oil palm / palm kernel in the country. Government-owned and small individual holding plantations are also available. The state government has stalled a 10/20 tonne /hr oil mill to take care of the processing needs of its 1000-hectare oil palm plantation in Elebele, Ogbia area. Palm produce would also be lucrative to employ them as raw materials for the production of high demand products. Rubber tree is also commonly found in Bayelsa state, with plantation mostly based in the Ogbia, Sagbama region.

Fisheries and aquatic resources are among the major natural endowment of Bayelsa as a very large percent of the state is surrounded by water. The state has Aquaculture Farms, Fish Processing and storage facilities in the state to boost food production for local consumption and export with a capacity of about 1500 metric tones of Cat fish with 500 metric tons of Tilapia making a total of 2000 metric tons of fish per annum and a fish processing factory with a capacity of 2500 Metric Tonnes and a Cold Storage.