- India offers credit line to revamp obsolete infrastructure
KasimSumaina in Abuja
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has expressed its readiness to continue to supply 10 per cent of India’s crude oil demand in the face of competing demand for the product from other countries.
This commitment was made yesterday by the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Mallam Mele Kyari, during a visit by the Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Abhay Thakur.
A statement issued yesterday by the corporation’s Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu, disclosed that the NNPC boss pledged that Nigeria, through the corporation, would continue to support India’s energy security.
The NNPC boss added that the recent Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in the area of energy between Nigeria and India would be consummated to further strengthen the bilateral relations between the two countries.
Kyari further stated that NNPC was desirous of growing the energy cooperation with India, adding that it was “time to progress from just talking to walking the talk”.
He said India was a very important market and that NNPC would ensure that the current volume of crude oil supply from Nigeria to India is secured for the collective interest of both countries.
“We are ready to have a robust engagement with the Indian trade team to provide a win-win energy scenario between us. Every trade opportunity that is available will be fully explored,” Kyari said.
He averred that there were lots of untapped investment opportunities in Nigeria’s Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and expressed the willingness of NNPC to aggressively improve LPG infrastructure and consumption in the country.
Earlier, the Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Thakur, thanked the NNPC for the recent renewal of the crude oil term contracts for three Indian companies and sued for increment in the crude oil supply in view of the increasing energy needs of India.
He disclosed that India was ready to provide credit line mechanisms and expertise to help NNPC revamp its massive infrastructure across the country.
“India is prepared to offer Nigeria and particularly the NNPC a credit line mechanism to help her in the areas of refinery maintenance, construction, security, surveillance and anything possible. Our expertise in Information Technology (IT) is available as well. We are ready to cooperate with NNPC to boost our bilateral relations,” Thakur explained.
The Indian High Commissioner also congratulated Mallam Kyari on his appointment as the Group Managing Director of NNPC, noting that the confidence placed in him was well considered for national interest
According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria major trading partners in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2018 were India, China, Spain, France and Netherlands and the major export to these countries was crude petroleum and natural gas, while the major import from these countries was motor spirit.
According to the bureau, India was Nigeria’s major export market in Q4 2018, accounting for 15.5 percent, or N780.1 billion of total exports with the export of crude oil totalingN730.3 billion.
This was followed by natural liquefied gas, N39.1billion, sesame seed, N4.1 billion, cashew nuts worth N2 billion and others.
In the first quarter of 2019, NBS said India was the largest export market for Nigeria with a net worth of N744.9 billion.
According to the report, Nigeria’s export trade to India accounted for 16.43 per cent of total exports, equivalent to N744.9 billion.
It said that the largest export commodity to India was crude oil valued at N684billion followed by LNG at N47.1 billion.
