Page 14 - DMEA Week 10 2021
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DMEA FUELS DMEA
Gasmeth set to begin CNG
production in Rwanda by end-2022
AFRICA GASMETH, a company founded to extract working with Rwandan authorities to sign up
methane from Lake Kivu in Rwanda, has said it customers on the domestic market.
expects to begin turning out CNG by the end of Tierney said he expected that “approximately
next year. half” of Gasmeth’s future production would be
According to Stephen Tierney, Gasmeth’s used as cooking fuel. He acknowledged that
CEO, the company is making progress on this Rwandan authorities had been encouraging local
front despite delays related to the coronavirus consumers to treat CNG as cooking fuel – and
(COVID-19) pandemic. As a result, he told the therefore as a substitute for LPG, which is itself
New Times last week, it expects to launch CNG an alternative to charcoal and firewood.
production by late 2022. “The entire project will Officials in Kigali believe that Gasmeth’s
be live by then,” he stated. CNG could allow 300,000-400,000 households
Gasmeth has already completed work on an to phase out the use of charcoal and firewood.
environmental and social impact assessment However, they have also highlighted other pos-
(ESIA), which outlines plans to uphold the strict sibilities, such as using CNG as a substitute for
standards necessary to secure financing for the gasoline or diesel fuel or burning it in generators
$400mn project from international lenders, for industrial use.
Tierney added. “As you can appreciate, a pri- This is in line with the concession agreement
vately funded project of this scale requires a great that Gasmeth signed with the Rwandan govern-
deal of support from both local and international ment in 2019. That agreement gave the company
equity providers/lenders,” he said. “We are fortu- the right to extract up to 40mn cubic feet (1.1mn
nate to have received great support for this strate- cubic metres) per day of methane from Lake
gically important project and expect to close the Kivu and to build onshore gas-processing and
final capital raise by mid-year.” compression facilities to produce CNG. It envi-
In the meantime, he noted, the company is sioned production beginning in 2021.
PETROCHEMICALS
Advanced given go-ahead for Jubail plant
MIDDLE EAST A subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s Advanced Petro- The firm’s 85%-owned Advanced Polyole-
chemical Co. this week received approval from fins Co. (APOC) subsidiary agreed an eight-
the Ministry of Energy for the construction of year, $800mn loan with the Saudi International
a new plastics facility at Jubail on the Kingdom’s Development Fund (SIDF) to part-fund the
Gulf coast. development of the units, which will begin oper-
In a March 10 filing on the Saudi stock ations in late 2024. Advanced’s stake in APOC is
exchange, Tadawul, Advanced Global Invest- held by AGIC, with the remaining 15% held by
ment Co. (AGIC) said it had been permitted to South Korea’s SK Gas Petrochemical.
allocate the required feedstock for the plant in It said: “The project will be financed 25% by
Jubail Industrial City 2. equity from shareholders and [the] remaining
The new unit will have a cracking capacity project cost, in addition to SIDF loan, will be
of 1.15mn tonnes per year of ethylene, 850,000 financed by APOC through borrowing from
tpy of propylene and 400,000 tpy combined of commercial lenders.”
aromatics and fuels once it comes into operation Propane will be supplied by state oil firm
in late 2025. Saudi Aramco under a long-term deal. Mean-
Advanced Petrochemical is expanding its while, AGIC has signed deals with US firm Lum-
footprint at Jubail – the heart of Saudi Arabia’s mus Technology and Italy’s Basell Poliolefine for
petrochemical industry – and will kick off con- the use of their proprietary technologies on the
struction work this year on a propane dehydro- PDH and PP facilities respectively.
genation (PDH) unit and a polypropylene (PP) According to ICIS data, Advanced Petro-
plant. chemical currently produces 455,000 tpy of
In December, the company said in a note to propylene and 480,000 tpy of PP from facil-
the Tadawul that the plants would have capaci- ities at Jubail. It also produces propylene in
ties of 843,000 tpy of propylene and 800,000 tpy Ulsan in South Korea through its SK Advanced
of PP respectively. subsidiary.
P14 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 10 11•March•2021
