Page 10 - DMEA Week 36

DMEA refininG DMEA
Cost increase at Aramco & ADNOC’s Indian super refinery confirmed
middle eAst
INdIA’S oil minister said this week that costs have increase for the re nery project proposed by Saudi Aramco and Abu dhabi Naitonal Oil Co. (AdNOC) in partnership with several local rms.
Speaking at the World Energy Congress in Abu dhabi, dharmendra Pradhan said: “ e primary plan was around $45bn, it will be more than that.” he did not say what the new gure would be, but Downstream MEA (DMEA) reported earlier this year that delays and signi - cant cost increases had come about because of a site change for the facility.
Local opposition to the originally-planned site at Ratnagiri in the western Maharashtra state saw the location shi to Roha, in Raigad district, south of Mumbai.
Aramco committed to acquiring a 50% stake alongside New delhi-owned Indian Oil Corp. (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd (BPCL) and
hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd (hPCL), later agreeing to sell-down part of the holding to GCC peer AdNOC.
The plant would have refining and petro- chemicals capacity of 1.2mn barrels per day bpd and 18mn tonnes per year respectively. however, while reports in december last year suggested the scheme would be delayed by two years, Pradhan said it would be completed by 2025.
Indian oil consumption is projected to roughly double over the next two decades, from 5mn barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) in 2020 to 9.9mn boepd by 2040, according to OPEC’s latest World Oil Outlook.
In August, Aramco agreed a provisional deal to acquire a 20% stake in Indian rm Reliance Industries Ltd’s (RIL) oil-to-chemicals division, which includes the world’s largest refinery at Jamnagar (see: Aramco continues Asian down- stream expansion as IPO approaches, page 4).™
fUels
Libya’s NOC halts kerosene deliveries to eastern regions
AfriCA
LIBYA’S National Oil Corp. (NOC) said last week that it had suspended deliveries of kerosene to areas in the centre and the east that were not under the control of the government in Tripoli.
In a statement, NOC said it had taken this step in a bid to ensure that kerosene was not being used as jet fuel for military operations. is was apparently a reference to the military conflict between the internationally backed authorities in Tripoli and the Libya National Army (LNA) led by Khalida ha ar.
“NOC has stopped all additional [kerosene] supplies until such time that assurances can be met that fuel is only being used for domestic and civilian aviation purposes and re ects real con- sumption,” the company said in its statement.
It also stressed in a separate statement that it would remain neutral in the con ict and that its aim was to ensure that Libya’s eastern regions had enough kerosene to meet demand among households, businesses and civil aviation oper- ators. “Jet fuel stocks in the east are more than
adequate to cover demand for civilian ights,” it said. “NOC takes no side nor part in the con ict in Libya, and it rejects any attempt to portray it as doing so.”
According to data reviewed by Reuters, NOC delivered about 5.25mn litres of kerosene to air- port depots in central and eastern regions that are under LNA control in the month of August. is marked a signi cant drop on the previous three months, which saw kerosene shipments to these areas oat within a range of 7.3-8.8mn litres per month. (It is still higher than the gure of about 3.5mn litres per month recorded for January and February, though.)
NOC did not provide a breakdown of the data to show how kerosene consumption was split between residential, business and avia- tion users. It did report, though, that demand appeared to be up in the aviation sector. “Jet fuel demand has increased in the eastern part of the country despite the number of civilian ights remaining unchanged,” it said.™
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 36 12•September•2019