Page 9 - AfrOil Week 02 2020

AfrOil POLICY AfrOil
 NOC added there was a risk that the El Shar- ara oilfield, whose crude is exported via Zaw- iya, might also be shut down, as well as the port itself.
“Haling operations at Zawiya will reduce Libyan oil production by at least 300,000 bar- rels a day and will mean it might not be possi- ble for fuel to be refined at the Zawiya refinery,” the company said. “This fuel will need to be imported instead, which will lead to losses in the hundreds of millions of dollars at a time when the Libyan economy is suffering.”
As of press time the refinery is still operating. In addition to a 300,000 bpd export terminal,
Zawiya also hosts the Mallitah gas condensate terminal.
Russia, which allegedly backs the LNA, and Turkey, who sides with the government in Trip- oli, tried earlier this week to broker a cease-fire during talks in Moscow. Their efforts failed, as representatives of the GNA and Haftar’s LNA left the Russian capital without striking a deal.
Turkey this month dispatched troops to the North African state, not to engage the rebels but to enforce a peace, according to Ankara. The Turkish government has accused Russia of having around 2,500 mercenaries in Libya sup- porting the LNA.™
PROJECTS & COMPANIES
Privately owned Nigerian company expands modular oil refinery
NIGERIA
NIGERIA’S Department of Petroleum Resources reported last week that a privately owned company had significantly increased the capacity of its modular refinery in Ogbele, a town in Rivers State.
In a statement, the department said that Niger Delta Petroleum Resources (NDPR), a subsidiary of Niger Delta Exploration and Pro- duction (NDEP), had raised the capacity of its small-scaletoppingplantfrom1,000barrelsper day to 6,000 bpd. The expansion will allow the facility, which is now producing only diesel, to produce and market other types of fuel, it said. The plant will be able to turn out heavy residual fuel oil, marine diesel and kerosene, it explained.
“[The] DPR is set to grant NDPR a licence
to operate the plant, [which is] expected to be commissioned soon,” the statement said.
The department hailed the project, saying that the modular refinery would help Nigeria’s economy in several ways. “The expanded plant – located at Ogbele, Ahoada in Rivers State – will potentially reduce importation of petroleum products, with corresponding savings in foreign exchange and employment generation for our teemingyouths,”itsaidinthestatement.
NPDR intends to expand the modular refin-
ery again, raising the plant’s total design capacity
to 11,000 bpd. The company has already fabri-
cated, inspected and tested the major equip-
ment and supplies needed to raise throughput
by another 5,000 bpd. 
NPDR is looking to expand the capacity of the Ogbele refinery to 11,000 bpd (Photo: NGDelta.com)
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