Page 11 - DMEA Week 07 2020
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DMEA PETROCHEMICALS DMEA
Saudi Arabia eyes gas, petchem exporter status
SAUDI ARABIA
Saudi Arabia wants to diversify its revenues.
SAUDI Arabia aspires to become a major gas and petrochemical exporter, its energy ministry said on February 16.
e country is the world’s biggest oil exporter, but wants to diversify its revenue sources in order to increase its economic stability.
“Soon you will hear about the ability of the kingdom to be a gas exporter,” Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said in a speech on television, with- out going into details.
Saudi Arabia has stepped up exploration e orts in order to build up its gas resources. Its immediate plan is to replace oil with gas as the main fuel for generating electricity. Gas is antic- ipated to have a 70% share in the Saudi power mix, with renewables accounting for a further 30%. A er domestic needs are met, its focus will shi to producing surplus supply for export.
In March last year former Saudi Oil Minis- ter Khalid al-Falih hailed the discovery of large amounts of gas in the Red Sea, but did not spec- ify exactly how much had been found.
National oil company (NOC) Saudi Aramco, which has a monopoly over production in the kingdom, owed 92bn cubic metres of gas and 10.3 bcm of ethane in 2018. Its gas reserves at the end of that year were estimated at 6.6tn cubic metres.
Aramco is also working to close the takeover of SABIC, the biggest petrochemical producer in the Middle East. e deal, announced last year, will see it take a 70% stake in the Riyadh- based rm for $69bn. EU antitrust authorities will decide whether to clear the deal by February 27.
SABIC produced 75.3mn tonnes of chem- icals in 2018, including 61.8mn tonnes of pet- rochemicals and speciality products, dwar ng Aramco’s current production capacity of 16.7mn tonnes per year. (tpy) e petrochemicals giant is having some nancial di culty, however, as a result of weak market conditions. It swung to a loss in the fourth quarter – its rst in over a dec- ade (See DMEA Week 05 2020).
FUELS
Liberian fuel crisis rolls on
LIBERIA
Liberia made an error in checking its stocks and its port needs dredging to receive larger tankers.
LIBERIA is in the grip of a fuel crisis, caused by an error in the accounting of its reserves and import constraints at its main port.
Long queues to lling stations began emerg- ing in late January, as supplies began to dry up. Shortages have put further pressure on the impoverished West African nation’s economy, already reeling from 30% in ation and currency depreciation.
Owing to incorrect stock checks, the country was le with only 1.1mn gallons (5.0mn litres) of fuel in state-run storage facilities in the nal week of last month, Commercial and Industry Minister Wilson Tarpah told Reuters on January 30. e government had thought it had 4.4mn gallons (2.0mn litres) of reserves, he said.
A bigger issue is the fact that Liberia’s main port in the capital Monrovia has been unable to receive large fuel tankers because of unusually shallow waters. Silt and detritus have been build- ing up in the port since summer, AFP reported on February 9, when heavy rains prevented crews from dredging. Only ships with a dra of
less than 10 metres can currently dock, accord- ing to port authorities, limiting how much fuel can be brought ashore.
Dredging work is now underway, but it is unclear how long it will take to make the port ready for handling larger-sized tankers. As of February 18, the work was continuing. In the meantime, Liberia has reached out to neighbouring Sierra Leone for emergency fuel supplies. Small-sized tankers carrying gaso- line from Sierra Leone arrived in Monrovia on February 14, according to local press, fol- lowed by more in the subsequent days. But as of press time, there are no signs of shortages dissipating.
e government has sought to downplay the economic impact of the shortages, with Tarpeh telling AFP on February 9 that they had caused an “economic downtrend,” without provid- ing gures. e crisis has stoked further anger against President George Weah’s government, which has already faced heavy criticism for the country’s worsening economy.
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