COTONOU, May 15 (Xinhua) — The Beninese government has temporarily authorized the loading of Nigerien crude oil from the Sèmè Kpodji terminal, the Minister of Water and Mines, Samou Seïdou Adambi, announced Wednesday in Cotonou.
Remember that on Monday, May 6, the Beninese government decided to block the loading of crude oil from Niger from the Sèmè Kpodji terminal, demanding the opening of the borders between the two countries, especially on the Niger side.
The Beninese authorities took such a decision due to the intransigence of their Nigerien counterparts, who did not want to open the land borders with Benin.
Indeed, the heads of state of the member countries of the Economic Community of West African States, meeting on February 24 in Abuja, decided to lift a large part of the economic sanctions imposed in Niamey following the military coup that occurred in July 2023 in Niger.
After this Abuja summit, Beninese President Patrice Talon ordered the opening, on the Benin side, of the land borders between the two countries. However, border barriers still remain imposed on the Niger side.
Note that the first liters of crude oil pumped in Agadem, Niger, landed in the installations of the terminal station of the Sèmè-Podji pipeline, during April 2024. Thus, 90,000 barrels of oil are expected every day to be transported via the Benign. With this decision by the Beninese government, the ships intended to take over for the export of this oil are blocked. END
Source: https://french.news.cn/
