The Republic of Indonesia has expressed its desire to foster the existing collaboration with Nigeria on the development of the nation's oil and gas sector, urging the country to revive a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Nigeria which was suspended in 2017.

This was disclosed by the Indonesian Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr Usra Hendra Harahap, during a visit to the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Nicholas Ella in Abuja yesterday.

A statement by the Deputy Director ( Press and Public Relations) in the Ministry of Petroleum, Mrs Oluwakemi Ogunmakinwa, said the Indonesian ambassador said that Indonesia was exploring ways to sustain her relationship with Nigeria.

"We are looking for ways to maintain and improve a beneficial cooperation and relationship that we have held for the past 59 years," he said.

Specifically, the ambassador noted that the oil and gas sector of the economy was an area of common interest to both countries and would want to explore areas of more collaboration with Nigeria in that regard.

"He noted that Indonesia imported over $3.8 billion worth of oil and gas from Nigeria in 2023 and stressed the need for Nigeria and Indonesia to resume discussions on the establishment of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the oil and gas sector which had been suspended since 2017.

"He stated that the MoU would help bolster collaboration in the sector, citing the offer by the Enugu State Governor in 2023 to build a 500-megawatt capacity gas power plant," the statement added.

In his response, the Permanent Secretary, Ella said Indonesia had been a good friend of Nigeria, adding that the visit would help improve the relationship between the two countries in promoting Nigeria's oil and gas for mutual benefits.

While assuring the ambassador that the issues around the MoU and Enugu Gas plant would be looked into, he stated that other areas of collaboration and mutual interests would also be explored.