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San Leon currently holds an initial 10.58% volume expectations. capacity, not just Nigeria. The region is highly
indirect economic interest in OML 18, which is Prospects looked bright for the MA-1X well dependent on foreign diesel and imports nearly
unaffected by the identity of the operator. Fur- drilled in the second and third quarter 2022, 700,000 barrels per day, which is 80% of its
ther announcements will be made as and when with SDX encouraged by evaluation results needs. The diesel supply gap has grown consider-
appropriate. applying for a development lease for the Mohsen ably since 2020 when a wave of refinery closures
San Leon Energy, 07 March 2023 discovery. swept the Sub-Saharan Africa region and slashed
In the meanwhile, production at the much domestic supply.
smaller West Gharib field averaged a gross The S&P report also calls for the development
PERFORMANCE output of 2,033 boepd in 2022. The company of renewable energy sources such as solar photo-
said that since October 2022, the development voltaics (PV) in Nigeria, as a means to reduce the
Egypt’s Petroleum Ministry infill drilling campaign has continued with the country’s dependence on diesel.
FDLN-2 and Rabul-9 having been drilled, com-
bna/IntelliNews, 06 March 2023
targets raising crude and pleted and brought online, bringing the total
number of wells drilled in the current campaign
condensate production to to eleven. Adding that workover operations on POLICY
the existing well-stock to maximise recovery
640,000 bpd from the fields continues. Egypt’s government raises
bna/IntelliNews, 06 March 2023
Egypt’s Petroleum Ministry is targeting raising fuel prices by an average of
national crude and condensate production to Diesel shortage looms in
between 630,000-640,000 barrels per day (bpd) 10% to reduce subsidy bill
by June 2023 from 490,000 bpd level at the end Nigeria despite planned
of 2022, Amwal Al Ghad reports citing ministry The Egyptian government’s Automatic Fuel Pric-
sources. Dangote Refinery opening, ing Committee raised administratively decided
In recent months, the ministry of petroleum fuel prices by an average of 10% to reduce the
has intensified onshore and offshore research S&P warns impact of subsidies on the state budget. The
and exploration efforts for new oil and natural sharp devaluation of the Egyptian Pound against
gas discoveries aimed at increasing crude and Nigeria may experience a shortage of diesel major currencies in January raised the govern-
condensate exports to generate foreign currency supply in the short term, despite the upcoming ment’s fuel subsidy bill since fuels are an interna-
revenues for the cash-strapped treasury. opening of the new Dangote Refinery in Q4 tional commodity priced in US Dollars.
Egypt’s total oil and gas production hit 2023, according to a report by S&P Global Com- Fuel prices charged to motorists at the pump
79.5mn tonnes in 2022, of which crude oil pro- modity Insights. will increase by 7% for 95-octane gasoline to
duction accounted for 27.8mn tonnes and natu- The S&P report indicates that the refinery will EGP11.5 ($0.37) per litre, 10.8% for 92-octane
ral gas production accounted for 50.6mn tonnes only reach full production capacity by the end of gasoline to EGP10.25 ($0.33) per litre, and 9.4%
and butane production 1.1mn tonnes. 2024, leaving it unable to provide substantial vol- for 80-octane gasoline to EGP8.75 ($0.28) per
Egypt’s natural gas exports hit 8mn tonnes in umes of diesel to meet local demand before then. litre. Meanwhile, the price of fuel oil used by
2022, up from 7mn tonnes in 2021, worth $8.4bn Continued reliance on imported diesel could industry will rise by 20% to EGP6,000 ($195.3)
in 2022, up by 140% year on year, most of which cause diesel prices to increase even further, espe- per tonne.
was in the form of liquefied natural gas (LNG). cially when combined with the market disrup- The rise in fuel prices is certain to propel
bna/IntelliNews, 07 March 2023 tion caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Egypt’s red-hot inflation even higher, but the
According to January 2023 data from the government had no choice given its commit-
SDX Energy’s operational National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), diesel prices ment to bringing local fuel prices in line with
rose 187.69% y/y nationally.
global markets under its $3bn loan agreement
update indicates solid sel-powered generators as an alternative power last December to reduce the budget deficit.
with the International Monetary Fund signed
Many businesses in Nigeria rely on die-
performance from Egyptian source due to the country’s unreliable power The government’s fuel subsidy bill reportedly
supply.
quadrupled in the first six months of Fiscal Year
assets in 2022 Sub-Saharan Africa lacks sufficient refining bna/IntelliNews, 06 March 2023
According to the report, the entirety of 2022/2023 that ends in June.
North Africa focused SDX Energy’s operational
update indicates a solid performance, especially Nigeria challenges
from its Egyptian assets at the South Disouq and
West Gharib fields, the company said in a press $11bn awarded to P&ID
release.
Output was strong at South Disouq field in in London High Court
the Nile Delta region with gross production
averaging 38.5mn cubic feet (1.09mn cubic Nigeria’s federal government has asked the High
metres) of natural gas per day, or 2,720 barrels Court in London to overturn an arbitration
of oil equivalent per day (boepd) net for full year award worth $11bn in favour of Process and
2022. This was partly due to the SD-5X well, Industrial Developments (P&ID), a company
drilled in the second quarter of 2022, going into that entered into an agreement with Nigeria to
production, exceeding the immediate post-drill build a gas-processing plant in Cross River State.

P16 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 10 09•March•2023