Boost for foreign reserve as Indonesia, more countries place order for Nigerian crude
Chances of early exit from recession are getting brighter following news or more orders for Nigerian crude oil by new markets including Indonesia and others from Asian tigers.
This week, Indonesian Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Harry Purwanto, indicated his country’s interest to purchase more crude oil from Nigeria.
Making the revelation during a recent visit to the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Dr Maikanti Baru, Purwanto said nations within the South-East Asian are now ready to do oil business with Nigeria considering rising diplomatic ties and business climate.
Besides, the development seems complementary to the extension of crude production cut by OPEC and the continued waiver granted to Nigeria exempting it from the cut regime.
In a statement signed by Mr Ndu Ughamadu, Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Purwanto, said Indonesia looked forward to lifting crude oil directly from Nigeria, rather than through a third-party as is currently the case.
According to him, his country’s president Joko Widodo, had instructed Indonesia National Oil Company, Pertamina, to direct its attention to Nigeria in its quest to meet that country’s surging energy needs.
He revealed further that a Memorandum of Understanding, on possible areas of co-operation between the two countries was in the works.
Ughamadu said the call by the ambassador signified the prospects of soaring Nigeria’s market share in Asian emerging economies which include China and India, having lost grounds in crude oil sales in the U. S. due to shale oil exploration.
The statement also disclosed that although Indonesia produced 900,000 barrels of crude oil per day, it supplements its 1.4 million barrels per day consumption with supplies from Nigeria, 18 per cent and Saudi Arabia, 28 per cent.
In his remarks, Baru said NNPC was interested in working with Indonesia on its initiative to replace firewood and kerosene with Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) as primary domestic fuel for cooking.
He acknowledged that the corporation was aware of the huge success of the kerosene substitution programme in Indonesia and would like a collaboration to help Nigeria achieve a similar feat in the near future.
