Page 15 - DMEA Week 25 2022

DMEA NEWS IN BRIEF DMEA

“ANRPC has utilised Honeywell The decision is to check the rising costs users themselves can be able to access foreign
technology in their refinery since 2001, of the products and their resultant economic exchange on the Import and Export window
they know and trust our products and hardship. and they should be able to import these
have selected Honeywell UOP because of Recall that the Airline Operators of Nigeria products.”
its ability to understand our customers’ (AON) had in March 2022 threatened to shut The minister dismissed the attribution of
needs for these complex refinery upgrades,” down flights over the rising cost of Jet A-1. the scarcity of diesel and aviation fuel to the
said Laura Leonard, Vice President and As of then, it sold for over N700 per litre, a government, saying it was a global energy
General Manager, Honeywell UOP Process development that also led to a 100 per rise in challenge.
Technologies. “Our technologies will allow the cost of local air travel. Today, diesel sells He added that the Russian and Ukraine
this refinery to revamp its naphtha complexes for close to N820 per litre. war has further aggravated the prices of the
resulting in improved production at ANRPC.” When the National Assembly intervened, two deregulated products.
“ANRPC would like to express their the association demanded and got the support His words: “It is not a supply issue at all.
profound happiness and gratitude for to be granted a waiver to import aviation fuel It is just a global problem. The problem in
Honeywell UOP’s technology in our revamp for its members. Ukraine and Russia has actually exacerbated
and capacity upgrade project,” said ANRPC At a meeting with NNPC Limited on the rise in prices as it is not a Nigerian
Chairman, Mr Salah Gaber. “We hope to March 14, 2022, the Group Managing problem.
collaborate with Honeywell UOP again in the Director, Mele Kyari, informed the House “High cost of diesel is also because of
future.” of Representatives that the licence would be the same reasons. These are not subsidized
ANRPC is considered one of the biggest granted to the operators to check the rising commodities. They have deregulated
refining companies in Egypt. Working under cost of the product and keep the airlines commodities so it is actually not within the
the umbrella of Egyptian general petroleum afloat. purview of the government to intervene in the
corporation (EGPC) it was founded with the Similarly, the Manufacturers Association price.”
latest international standards using the license of Nigeria (MAN) had also urged the Federal THE NATION
of UOP (Honeywell). Government to give its members some rebate
HYDROCARBON TECH as the cost of diesel hit N720 per litre. LPG usage in Zimbabwe
But Sylva told reporters that the
liberalisation of the importation of the two spiked in 2021
FUELS deregulated products would make it possible
for their users to access foreign exchange to Zimbabwe consumed about 50mn kg of
Fed Govt to liberalise diesel, import them. liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in 2021,
up from just 1mn kg in 2017, state-owned
The minister blamed the frequent scarcity
aviation fuel imports of the products and their high prices on the daily The Herald reports, citing the industry
regulator.
paucity of foreign exchange.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Co. Sylva said: “The problem with aviation fuel Norbert Mataruse, consumer services
(NNPC) Limited is soon to lose its monopoly is that it is a deregulated commodity. So, it is manager of Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory
of the importation of Automotive Gas Oil not within the purview of the government to Authority (ZERA), told a retailers’ conference
(AGO) otherwise known as diesel and Jet-A1 fix the prices at all. on June 21 that the country was not yet self-
(aviation fuel). “And of course, the actual issue is also the sufficient in terms of electricity supply hence
Petroleum Resources Minister of State paucity of foreign exchange. People cannot consumers were increasingly turning to LPG
Timipre Sylva said yesterday at the ministerial access foreign exchange to import diesel. for cooking.
meeting on the Reactivation of the Trans- “So, for the time being, NNPC has been “LPG consumption has improved
Saharan Gas Pipeline (TSGP) Project in the main importer of these products. But significantly in the last five years reaching
Abuja, saying the Federal Government was set what we are trying to do is to democratise 50mn kg, which pushed us to start regulating
to decentralise the process. the importation so that the aviation fuel the sector,” he said, noting ZERA started

Week 25 23•June•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P15