(Ecofin Agency) - The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) plans to join forces with the Republic of Niger on the purchase of crude oil for supply to the Kaduna refinery. The Group Managing Director of NNPC, Maikanti Baru, revealed this after a meeting with Niger’s Minister of Energy and Oil, Foumakoye Gado, in Abuja.

According to Baru, NNPC also plans to partner with Niger as regards the sharing geological data in order to further increase the current exploratory activities in the Chad Basin and Benue Trough, Vanguard news reports.

“We plan to set up the technical team to review the possibilities of how crude oil will be supplied to Kaduna refinery. Being bilateral, there are going to be two teams as discussed by the Minister of State, Petroleum Resources and the Minister of Energy and Oil of Niger. There will be steering committee comprising some Ministers and a technical committee which will involve the NNPC and the Nigerien Ministry of Energy and Oil and their operators,” he said.

He added that there is an agreement between the corporation and the Republic of Niger to share data and to also learn from the country’s experience.

The Nigerien Energy Minister has said that the possibility of procuring crude oil for the Kaduna refinery is currently being worked out and “one of the aims of this visit is to share geological information for us to draw the best profit out of the exploratory efforts.”

Anita Fatunji