Page 11 - DMEA Week 41 2022

DMEA REFINING & FUELS DMEA

Questions about the mode of Iraq’s compliance additional reductions to remain in compliance
with the November production cuts have arisen in November.
since the country fell short of its target in Sep- Mohsen did not say exactly how next month’s
tember. The full extent of the shortfall is not throughput cuts would be allocated among Iraq’s
clear; Argus Media said it had estimated the gap 12 working refineries, which have a combined
at about 110,000 bpd, but Iraq’s government-run design capacity of about 1mn bpd. (The country
oil marketing agency has put forward a much is slated to bring one more oil-processing plant,
smaller number of 1,000 bpd. the 140,000 bpd Karbala refinery, online before
Either way, Baghdad will still have to make the end of this year.) ™

Tunisia’s gasoline crisis deepens

AFRICA TUNISIA’S gasoline supply crisis is ongoing for the scarcity of fuel is the rush of people […]
amid shortages of some subsidised goods, deep- many Tunisians are taking more than they
ening the country’s economic crisis. need,” said Energy Minister Naila Nouira.
A senior official in the Tunisian labour union Another tanker will also arrive at the port of
(UGTT) said on October 11 that Tunisia’s gas- Bizerte by the end of this week, which ensures
oline supply will only last a week. However, market supply for another two weeks.
Energy Minister Naila Nouira refuted the state- Tunisia is still having discussions with the
ment, saying that a new tanker was unloading in International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a rescue
the city of Bizerte. loan that could unlock bilateral budget support,
The new tanker is supposed to give Tuni- which is to be finalised this month. ™
sia an extra 10-15 days of supply, said Salouan
Smiri, a senior official in the oil section of the
UGTT. He added: “[The] shortage of fuel sup-
ply may resume if the state does not find enough
liquidity to pay for upcoming loads.”
Smiri cited a low stock of fuel and an increase
in international prices to explain the shortages.
The government blamed these shortages of
goods on internal speculators and consumer
behaviour, while denying any claims of an ina-
bility to pay importers for subsidised goods.
The Energy Minister emphasised that the
government can pay for its fuel imports, but
there are more stringent conditions, as suppli-
ers require the payment of previous shipments
before unloading any new ones. “The reason High world prices have contributed to Tunisia’s domestic fuel shortages (File Photo)

BP, Kosmos gain more gas for LNG through

deal with Mauritania on offshore Block C

AFRICA BP (UK) and Kosmos Energy (US) have following the expiration of their exploration deal
expanded their resource base for LNG produc- in June of this year.
tion offshore West Africa by signing of a prelimi- BP and Kosmos are expected to use this
nary deal for Block C8, a natural gas-bearing site 30-month period to carry out and complete
offshore Mauritania, with the country’s Ministry engineering studies of C8 and then make a final
of Petroleum, Mines and Energy. investment decision (FID) on the project in the
The ministry did not reveal the exact terms first half of 2025, it reported.
of the agreement, but it announced the signing The block’s gas resources are large enough to
of a document on October 11. In a statement, it support a profitable LNG project that will trans-
said the parties had finalised a production-shar- form Mauritania’s economy by generating large
ing contract (PSC) with a term of 30 months export revenues, the statement added.

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