Nigeria has signed an agreement for transportation of imported petroleum products from Niger Republic.
Following bilateral agreements between President Muhammadu Buhari and President Mahamadou Issoufou, talks have been on-going between two countries for over four months – through the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and Niger Republic’s National Oil Company, Societe Nigerienne De Petrole, on petroleum products transportation and storage.
Niger Republic’s Soraz Refinery in Zinder, some 260km from the Nigerian border, has an installed refining capacity of 20,000 barrels per day.
Niger’s total domestic requirement is about 5,000bpd, thus leaving a huge surplus of about 15,000 bpd, mostly for export.
A statement by the SA Media to the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Garba Muhammad, explained That the MOU was signed by the GMD NNPC, Mele Kyari and the Director General of SONIDEP, Alio Toune under the supervision of the Ministers of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva and Foumakoye Gado, respectively with the Secretary General of the African Petroleum Producers Organisation, Dr. Omar Farouk Ibrahim in attendance.
Speaking shortly after the MOU signing, Sylva expressed delight over the development, describing it as another huge step in developing trade relations between both countries.