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NBEP project moving forward,

Nigerien oil minister says

NIGER NIGER’S Oil Minister Sani Mahamadou said along a route that would have allowed it to
late last month that his country was making pro- take advantage of an oil transportation corri-
gress in its campaign to establish a new export dor established for its fields in southern Chad.
route linking oilfields in the Agadem basin to However, it later abandoned this plan and opted
the coast of Benin. to build NBEP instead, signing a transportation
Speaking during a tour of the country’s oil agreement with the governments of Niger and
installations, Mahamadou noted that work on Benin in September 2019.
the Niger-Benin Export Pipeline (NBEP) had The planned pipeline will also deliver crude
continued to move forward since construction oil from the Agadem field to the Zinder refinery
operations began in June. The project “is well in Niger. This plant, which is capable of process-
advanced, with 70 km of land already made ing some 20,000 bpd of crude, was built by a
available for the laying and welding of the pipes,” CNPC-led joint venture. ™
he commented.
The minister did not say when he expected
NBEP, which will follow a 1,982-km route from
the Agadem oilfield to Benin’s Sèmè-Kraké ter-
minal on the Atlantic coast, to be completed.
According to other sources, though, the pipe is
due to come on stream in 2024. The cost of con-
struction has been estimated at $7bn.
NBEP is being built by China Petroleum
Pipeline Engineering Co. Ltd (CPP), a subsidi-
ary of China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC).
The latter company is the operator of the Aga-
dem basin fields that will provide throughput
for the line.
The conduit will be able to pump 100,000
barrels per day of oil, enough to raise Niger’s
total crude production up from the current level
of about 20,000 bpd to 120,000 bpd.
CNPC had previously talked about export-
ing Nigerien crude via Chad and Cameroon, Pipes for the NBEP project arrived in Benin in February 2020 (Image: CNPC)

NNPC head sees AKK pipeline

boosting Nigerian economy

NIGERIA MELE Kyari, the group managing director of cubic feet (56.64mn cubic metres) per day of gas
Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. (NNPC), to the domestic market in its initial stage of oper-
has said he expects the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano ation, and supply levels are likely to increase in
(AKK) natural gas pipeline to give a boost to the future, he said.
Nigeria’s economy. The additional volumes will help make gas
In a statement delivered by NNPC’s top available across Nigeria, the NNPC chief said in
spokesman Kennie Obateru at a recent industry the statement.
event in Kano, Kyari pointed out that the AKK “What this means is that it will debottleneck
project would provide crucial support to the the gas supply network in the entire country,” he
Nigerian government’s domestic gasification commented. This, in turn, will foster economic
programme. growth in the agricultural, industrial and manu-
The pipeline will be able to deliver at least 2bn facturing sectors of the economy, he added.

P6 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 31 04•August•2021