A high level economic delegation from the Republic of Cote D’ivoire led by it’s Ambassador to Nigeria, His Excellency Traore Kalilou and senior officials of the Ivorian Economic Team paid a courtesy visit to NUPRC to improve economic relations between Nigeria and the Republic of Cote D’ivoire that has been in existence since 1961.
The visit was facilitated by the Ministry of Petroleum Resources as part of its strategy to improve bilateral economic and trade relations in the West African sub-region.
In his welcome remarks, the Commission Chief Executive Engr. Gbenga Komolafe FNSE informed the delegation that the relationship between the two countries has been long established and that it is a welcomed development to explore identified areas of collaboration and mutual interests for the benefit of the two countries.
Furthermore, the NUPRC Chief Executive made a detailed presentation to the delegation, highlighting opportunities for investments in the Nigerian Upstream sector, in the wake of the global clamour for transition to cleaner forms of energy, he focused on Nigeria’s huge natural gas reserves of 208.62 TCF.
H.E Traore Kalilou informed NUPRC that the reason for the visit was a follow-up to an earlier engagement with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo in Abidjan some time in November 2021. He emphasised that the visit was to improve economic relations between Nigeria and Cote D’ivoire which is currently estimated at approximately $1.5 billion US dollars.
Engr. Komolafe thanked the delegation for the visit and reassured them of NUPRC’s support in improving economic corporation with Nigeria. The Commission Chief Executive (CCE) presented H.E Traore Kalilou with a copy of the “Compendium of Oil and Gas Laws and Regulations” while the Executive Commissioner Production and Development Dr. Nuhu Habib and the Commission Secretary/Legal Adviser Mrs. Olayemi Anyanechi, jointly presented a gazetted copy of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021 to Alphonse KOUE BI (Director of Economic Intelligence) who led the economic team.
