Nigeria seeks USD 15-bln from India

Nigeria requested a USD 15-billion petrochemical investment from India during a visit by Nigeria’s oil minister to New Delhi Monday.

The minister of state for petroleum of Nigeria, Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, requested investments by India in his country’s petrochemicals sector worth USD 15 billion as advance payment for purchases of crude, the Indian the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said in a press release. The two sides reportedly agreed to work out a memorandum of understandings by December.

The Nigerian economy is in recession for the first time in decades this year, in large part due to low oil prices, and the country is facing a possible debt crisis. Its budget deficit, estimated at some USD 5.7 billion, looks only set to increase due to stagnant growth, ratings agency Fitch said on Monday, and the government has recently sought USD 4.1 billion in loans from the African Development Bank in order to recapitalise. Fitch cut Nigeria’s credit rating from BB- to B+ in June.

Nigeria’s fuel demand is estimated at 445,000 to 500,000 bpd. The country’s installed capacity is 445,000 bpd, but Nigeria’s refineries operated at 5% capacity throughout 2015.

Nigeria is one of India’s most important trading partners in Africa, especially in the energy sector. Over the past two years, India has imported some 174 million barrels of crude (about 12% of its total imports) and 2 million tonnes per year of LNG from Nigeria, the Indian ministry’s press release added.