Page 13 - DMEA Week 23 2022

DMEA NEWS IN BRIEF DMEA

Troops confiscated 107,400 liters of crude and exposed workers to hazardous working International with Engineering and
oil, 456,450 liters of diesel, 6,250 liters of conditions. Energy and United Arab Emirates’ SDLE
petrol and six trucks during the operation that During the refinery process, involving International.
was conducted between May 19 and June 2. boiling crude oil in metal containers, large Obiang Lima expressed interest in gas
“All recovered items and apprehended amounts of soot are released into the air. transportation through specialised tankers.
criminals were handed over to the appropriate The residue is then discharged to the river, Commenting on Petrojet, the minister said
authorities for further action,” said Benard threatening wildlife and disrupting the water he planned to finalise agreements in order to
Onyeuko, the Ministry’s spokesman. cycle. The boiling process, subject to no reach a final decision.
Oil theft, conducted through tapping and temperature and pressure control, is highly The minister from Equatorial Guinea also
siphoning off official pipelines, is rampant in vulnerable to explosions. signed two agreements with Taqa’s Egyptian
the region. According to estimates, US$3.2 These are often deadly. arm on the development of LNG and CNG
billion worth of oil was stolen last year, In the most recent accident, on April 23, an projects in the West African state.
amounting to around 10% of oil export explosion killed more than 100 people. Taqa has delivered five CNG vehicles to
earnings. Onyeuko said that the recent operation led Equatorial Guinea, it said in May.
Illegal refineries operate hidden in creeks to a significant reduction in oil theft. However, Egypt is preparing to hold COP27 in
and hardly accessible forests of the Niger it remains unclear whether this state of affairs November. The two ministers discussed the
Delta, often guarded by heavily armed can be sustained without the root causes of importance of transforming the African
militias. the issue being addressed as well. energy sector, although Obiang Lima made
The clampdown has been underway since OCCRP the case for continued investments into oil
2021, when the military destroyed a total of and gas during the transition.
1.423 refineries. People involved in oil theft ENERGYVOICE
often see their activities as necessitated by a FUELS
dire social situation in the region.
“We do it because we have no jobs, Petrojet, Taqa sign deals on PIPELINES
understand?” an owner of an illegal refinery
told Sky News. Equatorial Guinea work Pipeline closures,
The massive pollution caused by oil drilling
has disrupted farming and fishing, two main Egypt Minister of Petroleum and Mineral maintenance drag Nigerian
sources of income in the region. Resources Tarek El Molla hosted his
However, local communities have seen Equatorial Guinea counterpart, Gabriel oil output
very little of the wealth generated by the Mbaga Obiang Lima, yesterday. A statement
industry, which is dominated by international from Egypt said the discussions focused on Nigerian crude oil output has plunged to new
oil companies. Unemployment remains high the trend of its increasing co-operation with lows in recent weeks, hit by pipeline closures
and poverty is soaring. African states. and maintenance at major fields, industry
Piracy, which the Niger Delta is notorious El Molla said Egypt was ready to help on sources said June 9.
for, making the Gulf of Guinea the global a number of fronts. The country could help A senior official from the country’s oil
piracy epicenter, has grown from the same convert cars to run on CNG and training, in ministry told S&P Global Commodity
root. There is also an economic rationale to addition to developing gas infrastructure. Insights the fields that feeds to two major
illegal oil refining. The two ministers also talked about how to exports grade – Bonny Light and Qua Iboe
Nigeria, albeit Africa’s leading oil producer, move Petrojet’s plans forward in constructing – were down on maintenance in May but
imports more than 90% of domestically the new refinery. The company was shortlisted output was “gradually returning”.
consumed oil. The paradox occurs because it in March 2020 for a modular refinery at Kogo Other industry sources said the Nembe
has failed to develop a domestic oil-processing South, in Bata. Creek and Trans Forcados pipelines had
capacity, despite large sums of money poured The Egyptian statement said an economic repeatedly come under sabotage, and flow
into prospective refineries. This hikes up the feasibility study was under way. This should through the lines have been sporadic in the
price of oil on the official market, making it provide all the details needed to move the past month.
unaffordable to many. project ahead, El Molla said. Africa’s largest oil producer has had to deal
Whilst the illegal refining industry offers Other companies shortlisted for the with a barrage of security, operational and
a partial remedy to Delta’s social ills, it has refinery work were the UK’s Rosslyn Energy, technical problems at its key oil infrastructure
also accelerated environmental destruction a Spanish-Russian group of Selquimica since early-2021.

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