Page 10 - DMEA Week 34 2022

DMEA REFINING & FUELS DMEA

Nigerian air transport union proposes

paying foreign airlines in crude oil

AFRICA NIGERIA’S National Union of Air Transport or outright shutdown of operations of these
Employees (NUATE) has suggested that for- airlines,” Aba said. “We must also mention the
eign airlines struggling to repatriate funds back concomitant losses not excluding jobs that
to their home countries be offered crude oil would accrue to several service providers who
instead of dollars as compensation, The Nation are almost entirely dependent on the foreign
has revealed. airlines – ground handling, inflight catering,
As things stand, foreign airlines such as the logistics, aviation security.”
UAE’s Emirates hold $464mn worth of air fares According to Aba, the federal government
inside Nigeria. But with Abuja suffering from a must take “extraordinary measures to fix the
dollar shortage, these carriers have been unable issue, including a “crude oil swap” to “defray the
to repatriate this money. backlog.” ™
As a result, airlines have started cancelling
and suspending air traffic to the West African
country. Emirates in particular has cancelled all
flights to and from Nigeria from September 1.
The disruptions may spread further, as wor-
ries about the future devaluation of the naira
have led many carriers to fear that they will lose
income if their savings are affected.
According to NUATE’s General Secretary
Ocheme Aba, Nigeria could address some of
these concerns by compensating airlines with
crude oil instead of dollars. In a letter to Min-
ister of Aviation Hadi Sirika, Aba noted that a
solution must be found in order to protect the
country’s image. “We feel obliged to mention
the threat to the employment and livelihood of
thousands of workers of these foreign airlines,
should there [be] further significant reductions Foreign airlines have been cancelling flights to Nigeria (Photo: Lagos-Airport.com)

Luanda refinery’s new gasoline unit

reaches full production capacity

AFRICA SONAREF, the refining subsidiary of Angola’s on imported petroleum products. Because of the
national oil company (NOC) Sonangol, reports rise in production, he noted, the Luanda refin-
that the Luanda refinery’s new gasoline plant has ery is now turning out enough gasoline to cover
reached full production capacity. 45% of national demand. Additionally, he said,
According to João Mayer, project co-ordina- Angola has been able to cut gasoline imports by
tor at Sonaref, the gasoline unit is now capable 15% since bringing the new unit online.
of turning out 1.58mn litres per day, up from Meanwhile, he added, the country has also
its initial capacity of 395,000 lpd. Production succeeded in boosting LPG production by 30%
capacity has ramped up quickly since June 7, and jet fuel output by 100%. He did not reveal
when the gasoline plant was inaugurated in a any specific figures for yields of these fuels.
ceremony attended by President João Lourenço, Sonaref began constructing the gasoline
the state press agency ANGOP noted. unit in 2019, in line with certain provision of
Mayer indicated that the new unit was help- the National Development Plan 2018-2022 that
ing Sonangol achieve its goal of improving called for expanding Angola’s oil-processing
domestic fuel supplies and reducing dependence capacity.

P10 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 34 25•August•2022