The Federal Government of Nigeria and the Republic of Niger have on Thursday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for petroleum products transportation and storage.
Following bilateral agreements between Nigeria’s 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 (SONIDEP), 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 release by the GGM/SA Media to the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Garba Deen Muhammad, stated that the MoU was signed by the GMD NNPC, Mallam Mele Kyari, and the Director-General of SONIDEP, Mr. Alio Toune under the supervision of 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 (APPO), Dr. Omar Farouk Ibrahim in attendance.
Speaking shortly after the MoU signing, the Nigerian Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva expressed delight over the development, describing it as another huge step in developing trade relations between both countries.
“This is a major step forward. Niger Republic has some excess products which needs to be evacuated. Nigeria has the market for these products,” he said. “Therefore, this is going to be a win-win relationship for both countries.”
