NewsRescue
According to Reuters, Niger’s military government intends to begin supplying crude oil to the international market next month.
Niger’s military leader, Abdourahamane Tchiani, announced on state television on Sunday that crude from the landlocked African country is being transferred to a port in neighbouring Benin via a new pipeline.
According to Reuters, he told Niger’s RTS channel that storage tanks in the port of Cotonou should be filled by January, when the commercialization phase will begin.
China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) operates the Niger-Benin crude pipeline, which was inaugurated in November. The 1,980km pipeline will allow Niger, one of the world’s poorest countries, to sell crude oil internationally for the first time.
Tchiani stated that Niger will export 90,000 barrels per day (bpd) through the pipeline and will receive 25.4% of the earnings. According to reports, the country produces 110,000 barrels of crude oil each day.
The West African country now maintains an oil refinery with a capacity of 20,000 barrels per day, primarily supplying the domestic fuel market, with some output shipped to neighbouring Nigeria by road.
The country’s military government, on the other hand, intends to refine more oil locally in order to minimise its reliance on imported fuel.
According to Africa News, Tchiani revealed plans to develop a second refinery “with the support of external partners,” but provided no other specifics.
“We do not want to market crude oil.” “We want to build a refinery that will process Nigerien crude on Nigerien soil,” Tchiani told Reuters. He also stated that Niger has not reaped the full benefits of its natural wealth.
Energy corporations from China, Taiwan, and Algeria are developing Niger’s oil sector. Savannah Energy, which is listed in London, is the country’s sole Western oil business.
