Princewill Demian
02 January 2018, Sweetcrude, Abuja – The Federal Government has reached an agreement with Niger Republic to build a new refinery in the border town between that country and Kastina State, the Ministry of Petroleum Resources has said.
The technical agreement, which is to be signed soon, would include building of crude oil pipeline from Niger to the new refinery.
This was disclosed in a statement from the Ministry of Petroleum Resources as the outcome of a delegation led by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, to the President of Niger Republic, Mahamadou Issoufou and the Energy Minister of that country, Mr. Foumakoye Gado.
The statement said a mutually beneficial agreement was reached for the construction of a refinery in the border town between the Republic of Niger and Katsina State, Nigeria and a crude oil pipeline from the Republic of Niger to the new refinery.
The ministry had said on its Twitter handle that the visit “to Niger Republic will lead to a definite agreement for the design and construction of a new refinery to be located at a border town between Nigeria and Niger.”
From this development a definitive bilateral and technical agreements on the refinery is to be signed in coming days.
This will mark another chapter in the Nigeria-Niger Bilateral trade, partnership and agreements this time anchored on energy and petroleum refining.
Earlier this year the Petroleum Ministry released a statement of plans for 10 new modular refineries for the Niger-Delta region, with Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Delta, Imo and Edo States as the major beneficiaries.
While the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government has failed on its promise to build at least one refinery each year, the move would boost availability of petroleum products in the country, the petroleum ministry said.
Meanwhile the single largest petrochemical refinery in Nigeria, built by Dangote Group in Lekki-Epe, Lagos is in progress with the set target of 2019 for completion.