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Natural Gas Distribution Co., TAQA Arabia

sign MoU on co-operation in gas distribution

EGYPT SAUDI Arabia’s Natural Gas Distribution Co. details of its plans for co-operation with the
said in a recent stock exchange statement that Egyptian company. At present, Natural Gas
it had signed a memorandum of understanding Distribution Co. is primarily active in Saudi
(MoU) with TAQA Arabia, an Egyptian utility Arabia and has become the country’s sec-
company, on the joint development of natural ond-largest distributor of dry gas. It receives
gas transportation networks and services. supplies of gas via pipeline from Saudi Aramco,
In the statement, Natural Gas Distribution the national oil company (NOC), and distrib-
Co. said that the non-binding MoU outlined utes them via local networks to customers that
plans for the two companies to work together include 66 factories.
over a period of one year. The parties will have Natural Gas Distribution Co. said in the
the option of extending the term of the agree- stock exchange statement that the MoU was in
ment beyond the current end date of September line with its plans for increasing its profits and
6, 2023, it said. expanding its business. The company also hopes
The goal of the partnership is to “[discuss] to benefit from another party’s practical expe-
ways of co-operation in entering into a partner- riences in the field of natural gas and energy. It
ship to develop and operate gas transportation did not comment on the projected value of the
services and gas networks”, the statement noted. agreement.
The financial impact of the partnership cannot TAQA Arabia, for its part, is the largest gas
be determined at this time according to the distributor in Egypt. The company maintains
announcement. However, the two companies teams of skilled construction and engineer-
will aim to advance their discussions towards ing specialists with experience in carrying
the signing of a firm agreement. out gas distribution projects in Egypt and in
The Saudi company did not reveal any other countries.™

PERFORMANCE

Kenya’s pump prices jump as new

president slashes subsidies

KENYA KENYA’S pump prices surged to a record high ($0.17) to KES 179.30 ($1.50) per litre while
after newly inaugurated President William Ruto diesel and kerosene prices were up by KES 20
made good on a pledge to scrap food and fuel and KES 25 ($0.21) respectively, the Energy and
subsidies, Capital FM reports. Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) said.
“The interventions in place have not borne The regulator kept diesel and kerosene subsidies
any fruit,” Ruto said in his inauguration in place, which are seen helping cushion low-in-
speech on September 13, noting that over KES come earners who use the latter fuel for lighting
144 bn ($1.2bn) has been spent on the fuel and cooking. Had those subsidies been removed
subsidy fuel, under his predecessor, Uhuru too, the prices of diesel and gasoline would have
Kenyatta. risen even further, the EPRA said.
“In addition to being very costly, consump- The new price regime, expected to remain
tion subsidy interventions are prone to abuse, in force until October 14, is likely to increase
they distort markets and create uncertainty, inflationary pressure, which has been driven by
including artificial shortages of the very prod- rising food, fuel and fertiliser prices in the wake
ucts being subsidised,” he said. of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In August,
On September 15, Kenya’s Energy & Petro- the annual inflation rate hit 8.5%, after accelerat-
leum Regulatory Authority scrapped a subsidy ing for a sixth consecutive month. Analysts now
on gasoline, raising the price by 13%. Critics of expect it to rise even higher.
the measure have argued that it served mainly Bringing down the high cost of fuel and food
those who can afford private cars. is one of the major challenges Ruto is facing now
The price of gasoline increased by KES 20 that he has taken office.™

Week 37 15•September•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P7