India may grant Nigeria credit line to revamp refineries, build infrastructure

India government may grant Nigeria credit line for the purpose of revamping the country’s moribund petroleum refineries to boost the domestic supply of refined products.

At a visit to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) headquarters in Abuja on Thursday, the Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Abhay Thakur, said India was ready to provide credit line mechanisms and expertise to help NNPC revamp its massive infrastructure across the country.

“India is prepared to offer Nigeria and particularly the NNPC a credit line mechanism to help her in the areas of refinery maintenance, construction, security, surveillance and anything possible.

“Our expertise in Information Technology (IT) is available as well. We are ready to cooperate with NNPC to boost our bilateral relations,” Thakur told the group managing director of the state-oil firm, Mele Kyari.

The High Commissioner expressed appreciation for the recent renewal of the crude oil term contracts for three Indian companies and seeks increment in the crude oil supply in view of the increasing energy needs of India.

On his part, the NNPC chief executive promised that Nigeria will continue to supply 10 percent of India’s crude oil demand in the face of competing demand for the product from other countries.

Kyari said Nigeria, through the corporation, would continue to support India’s energy security, adding that the recent Memorandum of Understanding in the area of energy between Nigeria and India would be consummated to further strengthen the bilateral relations between the two countries.According to Kyari, NNPC was desirous of growing the energy cooperation with India and that it was time to progress from just talking to walking the talk.

“We are ready to have a robust engagement with the Indian trade team to provide a win-win energy scenario between us. Every trade opportunity that is available will be fully explored.”

He said India was a very important market and that NNPC would ensure that the current volume of crude oil supply from Nigeria to India is secured for the collective interest of both countries.

He averred that there were lots of untapped investment opportunities in the nation’s Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and expressed the willingness of NNPC to aggressively improve LPG infrastructure and consumption in the country.