Nigeria turns to Niger for fuel supply

WITH imminent threat of fuel scarcity in the country, importers of refined petroleum products have started looking northwards for fresh supply, courtesy of 20,000 barrels per day (bpd) Soraz Refinery, near Zinder, in Niger Republic.

  Indeed, The Guardian gathered that the Federal Government had granted approval to some companies to import products from the Soraz refinery.

  Major oil marketers had warned that the nation’s fuel stock was drying up with non approval of 2014 first quarter import allocation and government’s N150 billion subsidy indebtedness to them.

  However, the northern part of the country has been receiving constant refined petroleum products supply from Soraz refinery through the nation’s land border through trucks from the neigbouring country’s facility.

  While major oil marketers in the country are mounting pressure on the government to release first quarter import petroleum products allocation and the payment of third and fourth quarter of last year’s subsidy, Soraz Refinery located very close to the Nigerian border, has become a source of the petroleum products used in Katsina, Bauchi, Sokoto and Jigawa, among other states.

 Niger Republic needs no more that 5,000 to 7,000 bpd, with the surplus of about 13,000 bpd being daily moved across the border to the states of the North.

  Until the recent development, Nigeria imports refined products mainly from such countries like India, Brazil, England, Netherlands and Cote d’Ivoire.

  A source told The Guardian that, “whenever there are no long queue of petroleum trucks along the Lagos Ibadan expressway, you will know that the northern part of the country is getting enough products from Niger Republic”.

  The source attributed the glut of petroleum products experienced in the country last year to the importation from Niger Republic. “We experienced glut in the system last year because some marketers were importing the product from Niger Republic to cover the northern parts of the country.  So, there was a problem of distribution of the products due to Niger’s export to Nigeria”, he added.

  He also attributed the glut to reduction in petroleum products pipeline vandalism towards the end of last year.  “There were fewer incidents of petroleum pipeline vandalism last year.  As a result, we had more than enough products in the country”, he said.

  Niger Republic’s oil refinery was commissioned at Zinder, close to the Nigerian border. The refinery was built to satisfy the neigbouring country’s domestic need and leave the surplus for export to Nigeria.

  The Soraz refinery is a joint venture with China. Its 20,000 barrel-per-day capacity is being fed entirely by oil from the Agadem oilfield, a further 700 kilometres to the east.

  Nigeria has four refineries in Warri, Kaduna and Port Harcourt, with a combined refining capacity of about 445,000bpd. These refineries however operate below their installed capacities as a result of poor maintenance and incessant pipeline vandalism.

  The Guardian gathered that many industries in the northern part of the country now depend on importation of petroleum products from Niger Republic.  Even some power plants are already considering getting products from the refinery to operate.