Page 11 - DMEA Week 06 2022

DMEA FUELS DMEA

PdVSA reportedly receives

more Iranian condensate

MIDDLE EAST VENEZUELA’S state oil firm PdVSA has report- hand, it helps Iran trade some of the condensate
edly taken delivery of another shipment of Ira- it has been storing in NITC’s tanker fleet for
nian gas condensate. crude. And on the other hand, it helps PdVSA
Citing data from the Vortexa analytics firm, secure the diluent it needs to transform its extra-
Argus Media reported last week that Starla, heavy oil into a lighter synthetic fuel that is easier
a very large crude carrier (VLCC) owned by to handle and process, while also reducing the
National Iranian Tanker Co. (NITC) had docked amount of crude building up in storage because
in the Venezuelan port of Jose on January 28-29 of US sanctions.
and unloaded approximately 2mn barrels of gas Since PdVSA started receiving Iranian con-
condensate there. This was the first cargo of Ira- densate last autumn, it has succeeded in boosting
nian condensate to arrive in Venezuela since the output rates considerably. According to previous
start of 2022. reports, Venezuela extracted 525,000 barrels per
PdVSA began receiving Iranian condensate, day (bpd) of oil in the first nine months of 2021
which it uses as a blendstock for extra-heavy but saw output rise to 824,000 bpd on average in
crude oil from the Orinoco River belt, under a November.
swap agreement with NITC’s parent company, Before the end of last year, it even managed to
National Iranian Oil Co. (NIOC), last autumn. It bring daily output up to the 1mn bpd level for the
took delivery of at least three cargoes, each con- first time in nearly three years.
taining 1.85-2.00mn barrels, between September The rise in crude production has reportedly
and November of 2021. helped the NOC boost domestic petroleum
The swap deal benefits both sides. On the one product sales, as well as exports to Asia.™

Ugandan MPs blame fuel

companies for high gasoline prices

AFRICA MEMBERS of Uganda’s Parliament have said in be hoarding fuel because they had been import-
a new report that fuel companies are to blame ing a significant amount of petroleum products.
for the continued rise in domestic petroleum “With these statistics, it is clear that fuel
product prices. is actually getting into the country. But some
The report, which was issued by the parlia- fuel-importing companies and fuel stations
mentary Committee on Tourism, Trade and are taking advantage of the current situation
Industry, noted that fuel prices have continued to to hoard and sell the fuel expensively,” Mpaka
go up in Uganda despite the easing of the border stated.
strike that triggered the crisis. The report also accused Uganda’s Ministry
It was referring to the 10-day strike staged by of Energy and Mineral Development of poor
Kenyan truck drivers who claimed that author- planning, pointing to the country’s lack of ade-
ities at the Malaba border post were taking too quate fuel reserves. “It is pertinent to note that
long to clear them to cross into Uganda. Uganda has no fuel reserves. This renders it vul-
Since the end of the strike, the average retail nerable to crises as these, being that the country
price of gasoline has risen to $1.43 per litre, up is landlocked.”
from $1.28 before the strike, the report said. “Also, UNOC [Uganda National Oil Co.] has
The ongoing price hikes have sparked con- to up its effort to be up to its task, being a state
cerns about excessive stockpiling, and Mwine enterprise; it should jealously guard the interests
Mpaka, the chairperson of the committee, said of government and Ugandans as a whole,” the
Vivo and Total were the companies most likely to report said.™

Week 06 10•February•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P11