Page 6 - AfrOil Week 31 2019
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PIPELINES & TRANSPORT AfrOil
It also stated that one of its subsidiaries, Akakus Oil Operations, had tried to re-open the link to the terminal. This attempt failed because of interference from members of “a localarmedgroup,”thecompanysaid.
NOC added that it was attempting to negoti- ate with the band in the hope of restarting pro- duction soon but did not elaborate.
This is not the first time that El Sharara, which produces around 290,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil, has gone o ine. NOC suspended production on July 19, after an unnamed group of people blocked a valve along the pipeline to Zawiya. It then resumed produc- tion on July 22, a er the company was able to
re-open the valve.
Mustafa Sanala, the chairman of the com-
pany, said that the latest closure demonstrated the undesirable consequences of attacks on oil andgasinfrastructure. eshutdowndisrupted shipments of crude oil to the Obari thermal power plant (TPP), which was then unable to ensure steady supplies of electricity to the natu- ral grid, he said in a statement last week.
“ is latest incident only serves to highlight the fragility of our security environment and total disregard for the impact of such acts on thelivesofeverydayLibyans,”hewasquotedas saying in a statement that was released by the NOC on August 1.
Kenya becomes an oil exporter
POLICY
KENYAN President Uhuru Kenyatta revealed last week that the country had become an exporter of crude oil.
Kenyatta told members of his cabinet in a meeting on August 1 that Kenya had sold its rst batch of crude. “We are now an oil exporter. Our first deal was concluded this afternoon with 200,000 barrels [valued] at a price of $12mn,” he was quoted as saying in a govern- ment press release.
As of press time, Kenyan o cials had not identi ed the buyer of the oil. When contacted by The Nation, presidential spokesperson Kanze Dena declined to comment. “Those details are not out,” she remarked.
The export shipment consisted of liquid hydrocarbons that Tullow Oil had extracted from the 10BB and 13T elds in the Turkana region and transported to the port of Mombasa by truck. e UK-listed company began mov- ing the crude in early 2019 at the rate of 600 barrels per day but pushed delivery volumes
up to 2,000 bpd in May. It said in a regulatory filing dated July 24 that it had already sent more than 200,000 barrels to Mombasa and expected to sell and li the cargo before the end of September.
Tullow discovered commercially viable deposits of oil at its Kenyan elds in 2012 and intends to begin regular commercial produc- tion there in the second half of 2023. But the company has already achieved rst oil under a programme known as the Early Oil Pilot Scheme (EOPS).
It is now testing the market’s response to this new stream of crude, which is light and low in sulphur.
Kenyatta said last week that he hoped Kenya would reap the rewards of its entry into the oil export business. “I think we have started the journey and it is up to us to ensure that those resources are put to the best use to make our country both prosperous and to ensure we eliminate poverty,” he stated.
NTV
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 31 06•August•2019
