Nigeria set to save $300m on barite imports in global market worth $1.4bn

NIGERIA IS SET TO SAVE AT LEAST $300 million being spent annually on importation of barite, with the inauguration of locally produced barite, Olamilekan Adegbite, the country’s minister of mines and steel development, said in a statement in Abuja, the capital city.

Barite is a mineral used in the oil and gas industry. Nigeria has the mineral all over its territory, especially in Benue, Taraba, Adamawa, Nasarawa, Plateau, Gombe and Cross River states.

Business A.M. Intelligence found that the global barite market was valued at $1.4 billion in 2019, and is projected to reach $2.4 billion by 2027, growing at a cumulative annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.3 percent from 2020 to 2027.

The minister said that the barite inauguration, scheduled to hold in Port Harcourt, Rivers State would herald a great achievement by the country, and it would also save forex for Nigeria.

Like petroleum, where it spends several trillions of naira on importation of its refined products, Nigeria also spends over $300 million every year to import barite for its oil industry, despite being Africa’s biggest oil producer. Till date, the nation’s four oil refineries with 445,000 bpd combined nameplate capacity are comatose, producing no single litre of product.

According to the mines and steel minister, 50 bags of barite milled in the country would be showcased at the inauguration, with the mineral meant for the nation’s oil and gas industry.

He informed that the product was produced to meet American Petroleum Institute (API) standard