Niger ends sales monopoly of state petroleum products company

Niger’s oil refinery, Soraz, can start selling petroleum products, ending a monopoly held since 2011 by state oil products company Sonidep, according to a government document.

Soraz is a joint venture between the government and China National Petroleum Corp, which owns 60 percent. It processes some 12,000 to 16,000 barrels per day, offering Niger’s only large-scale means of transforming crude oil into petroleum products such as gasoline.

“Soraz and Sonidep are authorized to jointly export refined products. After meeting domestic needs, the excess production will be split 50-50 between the companies,” Energy Minister Foumakoye Gado said in a letter to the Minister of Commerce.

The decision was taken after talks in cabinet and with the Chinese partners and an export price would be set each month, said the letter, which was seen by Reuters. A mechanism would be put in place to offset a rise in pump prices.