Page 9 - DMEA Week 48 2022

DMEA COMPANIES DMEA

However, nearly all of these barrels come from to Sonangol’s investments in three ongoing
sites that are operated by other oil companies, downstream projects that will eventually raise
and the NOC will have to work to raise its oper- the country’s total oil-processing capacity by
ated share to 10%. 425,000 bpd. Additionally, he noted that the
According to Martins, the company has plans NOC had arranged to add “580,000 cubic
to do so and is also working to raise its refin- metres in distribution infrastructure to meet
ing capacity. In his speech, he drew attention current and future demand.” ™

PIPELINES
Kenyan insurer exits EACOP consortium,

citing concerns about IFC standards

AFRICA NAIROBI-LISTED Britam Holdings has with- the EACOP project went against the precepts
drawn from a consortium of East African insur- of International Finance Corp. (IFC), member
ers providing coverage for a planned 1,443-km of the World Bank group that made a $35mn
oil pipeline in Uganda and Tanzania and related investment in the Kenyan insurer itself, it said.
upstream projects on the grounds that the pro- “There are indications of a plausible link
ject does not meet its backers’ policies and per- to harm or risk of harm to the complainant
formance standards. related to the sub-project,” the CAO wrote in its
According to The East African, Britam’s response.
decision came to light in early November, when Following the review, Britam expressed
the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO), specific concerns about the failure to conduct
an independent agency of the World Bank, meaningful consultations with or provide ade-
responded to a complaint filed last year by Inclu- quate and prompt compensation to affected
sive Development International, a US-based communities. It also raised questions about the
human rights organisation. potential for irreversible environmental damage
The CAO’s response confirmed that Britam to Murchison Falls National Park and other sen-
had bowed out of the Insurance Consortium for sitive ecosystems along the route of the pipeline,
Oil and Gas Uganda, a group established by the as well as the dangers faced by human rights
Ugandan government to support the East Africa activists opposing the EACOP project.
Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) project. Coleen Scott, a legal and policy associate at
It also said the insurer had done so after Inclusive Development International, told The
reviewing the environmental and social risks East African that the CAO’s response vindicated
of the pipeline. That led Britam to conclude that her organisation’s opposition to the pipeline.

The pipeline will follow a 1,443-km route from western Ugandan to the Tanzanian coast (Image: EACOP)

Week 48 01•December•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P9