Page 19 - DMEA Week 39

DMEA NEWS IN BRIEF DMEA

Sirte oil refinery resumes imports and exports, Reuters reported on of the state government offices. They carried
October 1.
banners calling for the restructuring of the
output after Maetig-Hafter Venezuela’s exclusive economic zone at 1:45 Forces for Freedom and Change in El Gezira,
The Iran-flagged vessel Fortune reached
the dismissal of employees affiliated to the
deal a.m. local time (0545 GMT), following the former regime, a system of quotas in the civil
same route as the Forest, which docked at
service, and a mechanism to control market
Sirte Oil Company announced yesterday Venezuela’s El Palito port on September 30 to prices.
that it has resumed production at its oil discharge fuel, according to Refinitiv Eikon The demonstrators condemned the failure
refinery in Brega. The resumption comes tanker tracking data and sources. of the governor to provide sufficient bread,
after the Maetig-Hafter agreement led to The third vessel in the flotilla, the Faxon, fuel, gas and sugar for the state, and called for
the resumption of Libyan oil production- is due to arrive later this week to complete a an investigation into the supply of basic goods
exports. The refinery, Libya’s oldest oil delivery of some 820,000 barrels of Iranian to El Gezira.
refinery, had been closed for about seven gasoline and other fuels to Venezuela’s state- North Darfur Governor Mohamed Arabi
months. run PDVSA, according to the data. told people in El Fasher who were protesting
Fadeel Abdelmola, head of the refinery’s The vessels have so far crossed the against high prices, power failures, and the
Production Department, said yesterday that Atlantic Ocean without any disturbances, long lines of people waiting to buy bread, fuel,
preparations for the resumption of refining according to the data. and cooking gas, that “this is the situation
started as soon as the lifting of force PDVSA and Venezuela’s oil ministry did in the whole of Sudan, including the capital
majeure was announced last week. not reply to requests for comment. Khartoum”.
He revealed that he expected initially the Venezuela and Iran, both under U.S. He attributed the high prices of basic
production of about 350,000 litres of diesel sanctions crippling their oil industries, commodities in North Darfur to the high
per day, which will be followed by petrol have strengthened collaboration this year costs of transport. He acknowledged that
and kerosene production in the coming by boosting bilateral trade that so far has the price of a sack of flour is SDG550 in
weeks and months. He said fuel will begin included crude, condensates, fuel, refinery Khartoum, SDG960 in El Fasher, and even
to be pumped to Brega Marketing Company parts, gold and food. higher in other localities of North Darfur.
which in turn will start distributing fuel The foreign ministries of both nations Arabi said that the power failures in
across its network to the whole country. had a virtual meeting on Monday to discuss North Darfur were the result of not being
It will be recalled that Libya is suffering trade and a proposal by Venezuela’s President connected to the national grid. Connecting
from acute fuel shortages, including diesel, Nicolas Maduro to form a coalition of North Darfur to the national electricity grid
petrol and cooking gas which have led countries affected by what they called will cost $250mn, he said. A better provision
to high black-market prices. Libya has “unilateral sanctions.” of electricity would mean a better provision of
been importing petrol for years as it does The Iranian fuel is desperately needed drinking water.
not have the refining capacity to meet its in the South American country, where long Bread protests were organized in
domestic demand. lines of drivers are waiting for gasoline at Khartoum and Port Sudan recently as well.
The shortages have also contributed service stations as domestic production at
to the demonstrations across Libya PDVSA’s refineries remains insufficient to
precipitating in political fallouts, including meet demand. Saudi Aramco ships first
the shooting at demonstrators, the Protests over the lack of gasoline and
suspension of the Tripoli Interior Minister basic services such as water, power and cargo from Jizan refinery
and the provisional resignation of both cooking gas have also grown, according
of Libya’s contesting western and eastern to non-governmental organizations in Saudi Aramco has exported its first shipment
government. Venezuela. from the new Jazan refinery on the Red Sea
The resumption of operations at Sirte Oil “If ships arrive from Iran or wherever, to Singapore, in what is the clearest indication
refinery will help alleviate these shortages and even if gasoline is distributed, protests that the 400,000 bpd facility is in the advanced
and black-market prices as well as save will continue in claim of other rights,” stages of start-up.
Libya on its fast depleting hard currency Marco Ponce, director of an organization Aramco has chartered the UACC Eagle to
reserves.. monitoring social conflict, told journalists on send 475,000 barrels of gas oil to Singapore
September 29. from Jizan, according to data analytics
company Kpler.
Second tanker carrying New bread and fuel protests in August that the first treatment is expected
Aramco CEO Amin Al-Nasser announced
Iranian fuel reaches in Sudan to start in Jizan by the first quarter of 2021.
It is noteworthy that Saudi Arabia sent
Venezuelan waters Protestors demonstrated against high bread two shipments of crude to Jizan last year in
preparation for the start of operation, as 2mn
The second of a group of three Iranian tankers and fuel prices in El Gezira and North Darfur barrels arrived in October and another 2mn in
entered Venezuelan waters on September 30, in Sudan on September 30. November, according to Kpler data.
carrying fuel for the gasoline-starved nation, Members of Resistance Committees from
which is struggling under a collapsing oil Wad Madani, capital of El Gezira, organised
industry and U.S. sanctions that have crippled a demonstration, and a protest vigil in front

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