Page 16 - AfrOil Week 39

AfrOil PERFORMANCE AfrOil

Net profits went down even though world oil for some time and is expected to continue trend-
prices did not decline dramatically in 2019, ing downward.
Sonangol’s report said. It noted that Brent crude Nevertheless, the firm compensated for its
had averaged $64 per barrel last year, down from losses from core operations in 2019 by bringing
$71 per barrel in 2018. in AOA397bn ($1.1bn) from activities described
Sonangol described its 2019 results as “strong as “extraordinary results.” These activities
growth” and said it had turned a profit “as a included receipts of AOA46bn ($125mn) from
result of stabilising revenues and the strong cost the sale of a real estate company and AOA13bn
reductions in the context of ongoing restructur- ($35mn) from a move to transfer responsibility
ing.” An analysis conducted by Reuters shows, for several hundred workers’ medical care to the
though, that the company did not actually earn government, Reuters reported.
anything from oil production last year. They also included the cancellation of a
Indeed, the news agency noted, Sonangol lost AOA280bn ($762mn) debt to South Pars Phase
AOA351bn ($955mn) on core activities in 2019. 12, a company that Sonangol formed with Iran
By contrast, it earned AOA69bn ($274mn) from to develop a section of a large natural gas field
core business operations in the previous year. in the Persian Gulf, the news agency said. The
This is perhaps not surprising in light of the fact NOC did so because sanctions prevented it from
that Angolan oil production has been declining ever starting work on the project, it explained. ™

Tanzania’s LPG imports up 16.4% in 2019

TANZANIA TANZANIA’S Energy and Water Utilities Reg- and access the use of LPG,” the newspaper
ulatory Authority (Ewura) revealed last week quoted him as saying.
that LPG imports went up by more than 16% in
2019, demonstrating the success of public and Motor fuel market
private-sector initiatives touting the fuel as an Maganga further stated that Ewura was also
alternative to traditional materials such as wood backing efforts to build more filling stations in
and charcoal. rural areas. To this end, he said, the agency has
In a new report on the domestic LPG market, revised some of the regulatory requirements
Ewura said that Tanzania had imported 166,436 applying to new stations.
tonnes of LPG in 2019. This marks a 16.4% He also reported that Tanzania’s demand for
increase on the previous year’s figure of 142,939 motor fuels was on the rise and stated that the
tonnes, it noted. government wanted to ensure that petroleum
The agency went on to say that about 65% of products could be distributed safely in all parts
all LPG imports had been sold on the domes- of the country. (According to Ewura’s report, the
tic market in 2019. The remaining 35%, it said, East African country was home to 1,596 opera-
were re-exported to neighbouring countries tional filling stations as of the end of 2019, up by
– primarily Kenya, which absorbed 70% of all 9.32% on the year-ago figure of 1,460.) ™
re-exports.
Gerald Maganga, the head of Ewura’s petro-
leum division, said last week that he hoped to
see domestic LPG consumption continue to
rise. There is room for expanding distribution
in rural areas of the country, he told The Citizen.
“LPG suppliers should put more effort into
developing their distribution networks to cater
for low-income earners so that they can afford LPG has replaced some traditional fuels (Photo: File)

POLICY
South Africa keen to back Mozambican LNG

S. AFRICA/MOZAMBIQUE SOUTH Africa’s Deputy Minister of Trade, and investment in southern Africa, Gina
Industry and Competition Nomalungelo Gina pointed out that the two countries already had
said earlier this week that her country was com- strong ties to each other. “South Africa is one of
mitted to supporting natural gas development Mozambique’s great and major trading partners
efforts in neighbouring Mozambique. and is also a major investor in Mozambique,” she
Speaking during a virtual seminar on trade was quoted as saying by Devdiscourse.

P16 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 39 30•September•2020