Nigeria To Import Fuel From Niger Republic

Posted by Nwa Diokpa African News, Latest Headlines, News, News Across Nigeria, News From The State Friday, November 20th, 2020

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – The Minister of Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva has said that Nigeria will soon begin to import fuel from the neighboring Niger Republic.

The minister who disclosed this in a statement explained that the two countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Thursday for petroleum products transportation and storage.

He added that Niger Republic’s Soraz Refinery in Zinder, which is 260km from the Nigerian border, has an installed refining capacity of 20,000 barrels per day.

It said: “Niger’s total domestic requirement is about 5,000bpd, thus leaving a huge surplus of about 15,000 bpd, mostly for export.”

According to the ministry, the MoU was signed by the Group Managing Director, NNPC, Mallam Mele Kyari and the Director-General of SONIDEP, Mr Alio Toune, supervised by the two countries’ Ministers of State for Petroleum, Çhief Timipre Sylva and Mr Foumakoye Gado, respectively with the Secretary-General of the African Petroleum Producers Organisation, Dr Omar Ibrahim, who was also present.

“This is a major step forward. Niger Republic has some excess products which needs to be evacuated. Nigeria has the market for these products. Therefore, this is going to be a win-win relation for both countries,” Sylva said.

According to Kyari, the two countries had had long engagements in the past with a view to restoring the importation of petroleum products (excess production) from Niger into Nigeria.

He said: “With this development, we hope to have a long-lasting and sustainable commercial framework to having a pipeline from the Soraz Refinery in Zinder (Niger) into the most proximate Nigerian city so that we can develop a depot.”