Nigeria and Niger Republic sign MoU for distribution and storage of petroleum products

The Nigerian government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Republic of Niger for the transportation and storage of petroleum products.

The MoU, which is expected to deepen trade between the two nations, was signed by Alhaji Mele Kyari, General Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, and Alio Toune, Director-General of Niger’s Société nigérienne du pétrole, in the presence of Nigeria’s Minister of State for Petroleum Hon. Chief Timipre Sylva, Niger’s Minister of Petroleum Hon. Foumakoye Gado, and Dr. Omar Farouk Ibrahim, Secretary-General of the African Petroleum Producers Organization.

“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,” said H.E. Sylva.

The Soraz Refinery in Zinder in the Niger Republic, approximately 260 km from the Nigerian border, has an installed refining capacity of 20,000 barrels a day (bpd). The total domestic requirement of Niger is about 5,000 bpd, leaving a surplus of about 15,000 bpd available for export.