Indonesia Wants More of Nigeria’s Crude Oil
Chineme Okafor
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) yesterday said it received a request from Indonesia to supply it more volumes of Nigeria’s crude oil blends to enable it meet the rising demands for oil by its local economy.
NNPC in a statement from its Group General Manager, Public Affairs, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu, in Abuja explained the Head of Economic Affairs of the Indonesian Embassy in Nigeria, Mr. Dwiyatna Widinugraha, made this request when he led a delegation from his country on a courtesy call on the Group Managing Director of the corporation, Dr. Baru Maikanti.
It said Indonesia said it wanted to buy more oil from Nigeria, and that its population of more than 250 million people needed about 1.6 million barrels of crude oil daily.
It also said Indonesia needed more oil to meet its burgeoning energy needs as an emerging economy and would love to have a government-togovernment arrangement with Nigeria in that regard.
Widinugraha, according to the NNPC statement, commended the corporation for its support in crude oil supply which he noted has helped Indonesia to achieve energy sufficiency. He added the country needed further assistance in the form of increased crude oil allocation from Nigeria.
The statement also quoted the Vice President of Pertamina, which is the Indonesian national oil company, Mr. Anizar Burlian, to have said they were in Abuja to thank Nigeria for helping them meet their local oil demand and to further explore better arrangements of buying more oil.
Burlian, reportedly said: “Over the years, we have bought huge amount of crude oil from Nigeria. We are extremely happy to buy more Nigerian crude oil which is globally rated to be of very high grade and which is very suitable for our refineries.”
He said they were also interested in investment opportunities in the Nigerian upstream, midstream and downstream petroleum sectors.
According to the statement, the Group General Manager, Crude Oil Marketing Division (COMD) of the corporation, Mr. Mele Kyari, who was represented by Mr Adokiye Tombomieye, responded on behalf of the NNPC, and explained it would continue to supply crude oil to Indonesia.
He also asked the visiting team to route the request for a government-to-government crude supply arrangement through the President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari.
On investment, the corporation advised the team to articulate its request in a proposal to enable its management review and act accordingly.