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AfrOil POLICY AfrOil

Liberia, Cote d’Ivoire discuss

plans for fuel supply deal

LIBERIA/CÔTE D’IVOIRE OFFICIALS from Liberia and Côte d’Ivoire conclude a high-level agreement on bilateral
gathered in Abidjan last week to discuss pro- co-operation. Next, he stated, there must be “a
posals for a fuel supply agreement. second agreement between economic and tech-
During a working visit to the Ivorian capi- nical operators” – that is, between SIR and SMB,
tal, Liberia’s Foreign Minister Dee-Maxwell which will supply the petroleum products Libe-
Saah Kemayah, Sr. held a meeting with Thomas ria needs, and LPRC, which will receive them.
Camara, Côte d’Ivoire’s Minister of Mines, Once these milestones are met, he said, the
Petroleum and Energy. Kemayah was accompa- parties can “designate an operator in the middle
nied by a delegation from his country’s state-run [that] will carry the products in Côte d’Ivoire
fuel company, Liberia Petroleum Refinery Co. and deliver them to Liberia.”
(LPRC). He also indicated that Liberia and Côte d’Ivo-
Camara told reporters after the meeting ire had not yet reached agreement on the total
that Kemayah and the LPRC delegation had amount of fuel to be supplied or on “the pace of
expressed their desire to secure petroleum prod- deliveries and the size of the batches.” The two
ucts from Côte d’Ivoire. sides will continue talks with the aim of conclud-
“The Liberian government, through this ing the necessary agreements in the near future,
delegation, is requesting Côte d’Ivoire to sup- he added. ™
ply the Republic of Liberia with conventional
petroleum products such as gasoline, diesel and
bitumen,” he explained. “We expressed our sat-
isfaction to the extent that the Ivorian Refining
Company (SIR) and the Multinational Com-
pany of Bitumen (SMB) are two refineries that
perfectly work in Côte d’Ivoire. Both refineries
are at their peak. They are working very well. We
have, therefore, welcomed this demand from the
Republic of Liberia, and we also informed them
that we are able to meet this demand and pro-
vide them with refined products from SIR and
SMB.”
Establishing Côte d’Ivoire as one of Liberia’s
fuel suppliers will require the signing of two
separate agreements, Camara added. First, he
said, the governments of the two countries must SIR refinery in Abidjan (Photo: Process Safety Integrity)

Nigeria establishes NNPC Ltd as new NOC

NIGERIA NIGERIAN President Muhammadu Buhari Resources to cause for the incorporation of the
has issued an order authorising the incorpora- NNPC Ltd within six months of commence-
tion of Nigerian National Petroleum Corpora- ment of the act in consultation with the Minister
tion Ltd (NNPC Ltd), in line with Section 53(1) of Finance on the nominal shares of the com-
of the recently signed Petroleum Industry Act pany,” he stated.
(PIA). This act lays the groundwork for the new Adesina also noted that Buhari had approved
company to replace an existing state-run entity, the appointment of the new company’s board
Nigerian National Corp. (NNPC), as Nigeria’s members and management, in line with Sec-
national oil company (NOC). tion 59(2) of the PIA. NNPC Ltd’s chairman will
Femi Adesina, Buhari’s special advisor for be Ifeanyi Ararume, a senator from Imo State,
media and publicity, said in a statement that the while NNPC’s current group managing direc-
president had taken this step in his capacity as tor Mele Kyari will serve as CEO, he said. Umar
the country’s Minister of Petroleum Resources. Isa Ajiye, the CFO of NNPC, will hold the same
The PIA “requires the Minister of Petroleum position at NNPC Ltd, he stated.

P10 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 38 22•September•2021