Page 9 - DMEA Week 05

DMEA TRANSPORT DMEA
Shell lifts force majeure on Bonny Light crude shipments
NIGERIA
Shell Petroleum Development Co. (SPDC), a Nigeria- based subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell (UK-Netherlands), has lifted force majeure on shipments of Bonny Light crude.
SHELL Petroleum Development Co. (SPDC), a Nigeria-based subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell (UK-Netherlands), has li ed force majeure on shipments of Bonny Light crude.
A spokesman for the company told the New Telegraph on January 31 that oil was once again owing through the Nembe Creek Trunk Line (NCTL), one of the main export routes for Bonny Light. He con rmed that deliveries had resumed several days earlier.
SPDC had declared force majeure on January 20, a er Aiteo, the operator of NCTL, shut the pipeline down. It explained the decision by citing its dependence on this transportation route and noted that vandals had damaged the pipe and compromised its operation.
e Shell subsidiary did not reveal any fur- ther details about the suspension of crude ows. Bonny Light is one of Nigeria’s main export grades of crude. It is a light sweet oil that yields relatively large amounts of gasoline, and the tem- porary reduction in deliveries had an adverse
impact on prices.
NCTL, which follows a 97-km path through the Niger River Delta, typically carries 150,000- 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil to a terminal facility on Bonny Island. It is frequently targeted by vandals and thieves and was taken o ine several times last year.
Victor Okonkwo, the managing director of Aiteo, said last December that his company had identi ed and reported a number of the indi- viduals it had observed attempting to sabotage or steal crude from the pipeline. So far, he com- mented, Nigerian security agencies have not detained any of these people.
He was speaking as Aiteo reported that its pipeline had remained o ine for a total of 61 days in the rst 11 months of 2019. About 4mn barrels of crude were lost during these shut- downs, the Nigerian company said.
Losses are common even at times when the pipeline is functioning normally, Okonkwo said. “Also worrying is the amount of crude loss recorded even when the pipeline is operational, usually in the range of 25-35%,” he remarked.™
Equatorial Guinea eyes end-2020 launch for Alen field
EQUATORIAL GUINEA
Equatorial Guinea hopes Noble Energy can launch production at Alen gas eld by year-end.
THE government of Equatorial Guinea has said that it hopes Noble Energy (US) and its partners will be able to launch production at the o shore Alen eld before the end of this year.
Noble had originally planned to bring Alen on stream in the rst quarter of 2021, but the Equatoguinean Ministry of Mines and Hydro- carbons indicated in late January that it was hop- ing for an earlier start date. “E orts are underway to accelerate [Alen] gas for delivery by year-end 2020, while currently scheduled for rst quarter 2021,” the ministry said in a statement distrib- uted by the African Energy Chamber.
Gas from the eld will help the Equatorial Guinea LNG (EG LNG) plant on Bioko Island secure adequate feedstock, the ministry said, according to S&P Global Platts. The facility needs a new supplier because its main source of gas – the Alba eld, operated by Marathon Energy (US) – is maturing and producing less.
As of press time, neither Noble Energy nor
EG LNG (nor shareholders in the latter project) had con rmed the report. Noble’s web page still lists the start date for production at Alen as the rst quarter of 2021.
e Ministry of Mines and Hydrocarbons has said that the EG LNG back ll project will make use of gas from two o shore elds, Alen and Aseng. Both contain “stranded” gas reserves; that is, they hold sizeable amounts of gas that have been di cult to develop economically.
Alba, by contrast, has been furnishing gas to EG LNG’s single production train, with a capac- ity of 3.7mn tonnes per year (tpy), for years. It has also supplied gas to the other two facilities in the Punto Europa complex – namely, a methanol plant and a gas- red thermal power plant (TPP).
EG LNG exports lique ed gas via tanker from its Punto Europa terminal. is facility has two storage tanks with a capacity of 145,000 cubic metres and a 350-metre bridge that is the world’s rst LNG pipe-rack suspension bridge. ™
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