Page 14 - DMEA Week 40 2022

DMEA REFINING & FUELS DMEA

It has a production capacity of 3.4mn tonnes forward with the $10bn Coral South LNG pro-
per year (tpy) and will be used to process 450bn ject in 2017.
cubic metres of gas from the Coral reservoir The other shareholders are Mozambique
within Area 4. It is the first floating gas lique- Rovuma Venture (MRV), a joint venture owned
faction plant ever to be deployed at a deepwater by Eni, ExxonMobil (US) and China National
field off the coast of Africa. Petroleum Corp. (CNPC); Galp (Portugal);
BP (UK) has signed an agreement making KOGAS (South Korea), and ENH, the national
it the sole off-taker of LNG from the Coral Sul oil company (NOC) of Mozambique
FLNG vessel. The company was supposed to Strong European demand recently led Eni to
take delivery of its first cargo in August, but the consider expanding the scope of the Coral South
shipment had to be rescheduled. LNG project by adding a second floating LNG
Eni discovered the Coral field at Area 4 facility to expand production within less than
in 2012 and made an FID in favour of going four years. ™

Sudan cuts motor fuel prices amidst

public scepticism over economic impact

AFRICA SUDAN’S Ministry of Energy and Oil has reservations about the utility of the price cuts
reduced the price of motor fuel as of October for local consumers.
5, reversing price hikes made earlier in the year. Kamal Karrar, an independent economic
The ministry said in a statement that the new analyst, said that the reductions did not elimi-
pricing schedule would take effect at 3:00 p.m. nate the markups charged by or commissions
on October 5. paid to the middlemen who handled most of
As of that time, it explained, diesel prices Sudan’s fuel imports.
were due to fall by 4% from SDG 700 ($1.23) per “The price of fuel in Sudan is subject to bro-
litre to SDG 628 ($1.11) per litre, while gasoline kers and [parasites] who have monopolised the
prices were set to drop by more than 25% from fuel market since the state and the Ministry of
SDG 700 ($1.23) per litre to SDG 522 ($0.92) Energy have stopped importing [fuel] directly,”
per litre. he told Radio Dabanga. “The current reduction
The ministry’s price reduction is designed to is slight and does not affect transport costs for
reduce pressure on Sudanese consumers, who the public or the economic situation.”
have been hit hard this year by rising costs for Muhammad Sheikhoun, an economist and
motor fuel and other basic goods, including academic, also argued that the involvement
food. However, some members of the public of middlemen and brokers had driven up fuel
appear to be sceptical about the impact of this prices. He also told Radio Dabanga, though, that
move. taxes and fluctuating exchange rates had caused
According to a report from Radio Dabanga, prices to rise.
Sudanese taxi drivers and other transport oper- Both Karrar and Sheikhoun have ties to
ators have said they expect increases in the cost the Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC), the
of maintenance and spare parts to nullify the political coalition that helped bring an end to
benefits stemming from lower fuel bills. the long-running regime of President Omar
Sudanese economists also expressed el-Bashir in 2019. ™

Sudan’s new fuel pricing schedule took effect on October 5 (Photo: mop.gov.sd)

P14 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 40 06•October•2022