Page 6 - AfrOil Week 19 2021

AfrOil PIPELINES & TRANSPORT AfrOil

Medgaz commissions pipeline linking

Kasdir to Beni Saf export terminal

ALGERIA MEDGAZ, the majority Algerian-owned oper- Spain, and the 33.5 bcm per year Trans-Med-
ator of a pipeline linking North African natu- iterranean pipeline, which pumps gas through
ral gas fields to European consumers via Spain, Tunisia to Italy and Slovenia.
has commissioned a second onshore pipeline, Algeria is a key gas supplier to Europe; in
thus completing the development phase of the 2019, it delivered some 42.5 bcm to European
project. customers.
The new gas pipeline, which will have a Meanwhile, oil and gas exports are a critical
48-inch (1,219-mm) diameter, is slated to follow revenue stream for the country, accounting for
a 197-km route between the Kasdir departure over 97% of Algeria’s total exports and roughly
terminal and the Beni-Saf arrival terminal on 35% of GDP. ™
the Mediterranean coast. It will service domes-
tic consumers along the route before the surplus
gets exported to Europe.
The additional volumes of gas will increase
Medgaz’s exports from 8.2bn cubic metres per
year to 10.2 bcm per year, with the help of a
fourth turbo-compressor being added to the
Beni-Saf compression station. The project was
carried by Algeria’s indigenous construction
firms Enterprise Nationale de Canalisations
and Cosider.
The first phase of the Medgaz pipeline system
was commissioned in 2009, joining two other
lines linking Algeria with southern Europe.
These were the 12 bcm per year Pedro Duran
Farell line, which runs through Morocco to The Medgaz system pumps North African gas to Spain (Image: Medgaz)

SCDP says new terminal will help

reduce Cameroon’s fuel import bill

CAMEROON CAMEROON’S national petroleum product to accommodate larger ships. As a result, she
concern, Société Camerounaise des Dépôts stated, the time needed to pump fuel from tank-
Pétroliers (SCDP), expects the total cost of fuel ers to onshore storage tanks is set to drop by 30%
imports to decline as a result of the completion on average.
of a new oil terminal at the port of Douala. Before the launch of the new terminal, SCDP
Véronique Moampéa Mbio, SCDP’s CEO, often had to pay penalties for tankers that did
noted recently that the new terminal would be not depart on schedule, she said.
able to unload refined fuels more rapidly than “You know that the state pays for demurrage
the port’s No. 1 Wharf, which was pressed into every time a boat comes and has to stay extra
service in 2001 after the original terminal was days,” Mbio was quoted as saying by Agence
damaged irreparably in a series of accidents. The Ecofin. “At the moment, we [are making ] on
wharf cannot always unload petroleum prod- average CFA11bn [$20.36mn] in demurrage
ucts from tankers quickly, since it also handles payments.”
other types of cargo, but the new terminal will SCDP brought the Douala terminal on
only load and unload refined fuels, she said. As stream on April 11. The new facility is capable
a result, she explained, tankers will not have to of berthing and mooring two large tankers and
remain in port as long. also has a network of pipelines and a pedestrian
Moreover, she said, the terminal will be able bridge.

P6 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 19 12•May•2021