Oil: Sonidep delivers one million barrels of Nigerian crude to the Algerian Sonatrach from the Sèmè-Kpodji terminal.

Sold by the Nigerien Oil Company (Sonidep) to the Algerian group Sonatrach in accordance with the agreement signed on July 22, 2026, this shipment marks the first joint commercial transaction between the two public entities.

A joint mission to oversee operations in Cotonou

To ensure the smooth execution of this inaugural operation, a joint delegation from Sonidep and Sonatrach stayed in Cotonou from August 9 to August 15, 2026. Led by Salissou Zakary Maman Nour, Director of Pipeline, Refining, and Petrochemicals in Niger, the mission inspected the pumping station PS09 and the facilities of the Sèmè terminal, before exchanging information at the Wapco-Benin headquarters.

According to a publication by La Nouvelle Tribune, these working meetings enabled the harmonization of administrative, logistical, and port coordination among the various actors involved in the export chain.

The Sèmè-Kpodji terminal, a strategic outlet for the Agadem pipeline

Stretching nearly 2,000 kilometers from the Agadem oil field in Niger to the Beninese Atlantic coast, the pipeline operated by the West African Oil Pipeline Company (Wapco), a subsidiary of the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), finds its only maritime outlet at Sèmè-Kpodji.

Despite the closure of land borders between Benin and Niger since 2023, the technical operation of the pipeline has continued, allowing Niamey to convert its oil resources into export revenues.

Ultimately, the Sèmè-Kpodji site will be part of a large-scale project led by the Petrolin group since 2010: the creation of a deep-water port of over 1,000 hectares dedicated to oil, mineral, and commercial traffic to relieve congestion at the port of Cotonou.