India to explore oil and gas in Niger

India will soon send oil and gas experts to Niger to explore hydrocarbon resources in the West African nation.

India's Minister of State for Petroleum P. Lakshmi told the visiting Minister of Energy and Petroleum of Niger, Foumakore Gado, that Indian companies are interested in exploring oil and gas blocks and investing in the country's oil marketing infrastructure.
According to an official release, Gado welcomed Indian companies to invest in the country. He also sought Indian technical expertise in the sector.
In response, Lakshmi said Indian state-owned units like ONGC, GAIL and IOC could provide technical training to the Niger's hydrocarbon sector personnel.
Gado is leading a high-level delegation, which includes Niger's ministers of agriculture and transport, and chairman of the country's finance commission.
Bilateral relations between India and Niger, a member of the Economic Community of West African states (ECOWAS), earlier mainly limited to multilateral fora, have picked up momentum with the opening of the Indian mission in capital Niamey in 2009.
India's trade with Niger stood at $57.34 million during 2010-11. India's exports to Niger was worth $46.88 million.

Outstanding multi-billion dollars oil and gas industry projects threatened

The delay by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to approve some outstanding multi-billion dollars oil and gas industry projects is causing concern in the industry.

It was gathered that the NNPC’s inability to decide on the projects stemmed from the repeated failure to hold its periodic Group Executive Committee (GEC) meetings, where projects of this magnitude are usually reviewed and moved to the board, for endorsement and award.

The projects that would be affected if the NNPC fails to act include the Mobil’s Erha North phase two; the Satellite fields development project, phase two; and Total’s Egina project.

Owing to the delays, some international oil companies (IOCs) have rejected further extension on the negotiations beyond the end of this calendar year with NNPC on the affected projects.