Niger Republic, a country that started commercial oil
production in 2011, now exports petroleum products to Nigeria.
For decades, Nigeria’s three major refineries have been
grounded to near-zero capacity utilisation with all of its refined fuel
imported from other countries. According to Guardian, data obtained from the
African Refiners & Distributors Association (ARA) revealed that strong
refinery performance in neighbouring Niger Republic meets local fuel demand,
and the excess production is exported to Nigeria, Mali and Burkina Faso.
As Nigeria struggles to get its refineries working and to
attract foreign investment to the downstream sector of the oil industry, Niger
has built a single 20,000-barrel per day refinery with configuration for local
market. The facility is currently turning out liquefied petroleum gas, 7 per
cent; gasoline, 32 per cent; and diesel, 61 per cent, to enable it optimise
stranded crude supply.
Niger built its refineries in less than three years, pushing
utilisation from zero to about 90 per cent in 2019.
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