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Nigerian industrial conglomerate Dangote is commissioning a $2bn urea plant.

Nigerian downstream progress the country grapples with an economic
Nigeria is making advances in its downstream slowdown.
sector, with industrial conglomerate Dangote
undertaking commissioning on a new $2bn If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping
granulated urea fertiliser plant in Lagos. The the downstream sector of Africa and the Middle East,
plant, one of several under development, will run then please click here for NewsBase’s DMEA Monitor.
on gas feedstock supplied by Nigerian Gas Co.
and Chevron. But traders warn that it could take Germany’s hydrogen aspirations
until the second quarter of 2021 for commercial Germany is aspiring to become a world leader in
production to start up. hydrogen energy, after adopting a new strategy
Nigerian authorities have also awarded a that will set aside €7bn ($7.8bn) for its devel-
licence to Nigeria Delta Exploration & Produc- opment. Its goal is to establish 5 GW of hydro-
tion (NDEP) to operate a small-sized oil-refining gen energy capacity by 2030 and to double this
train in Ogbele, a town in the coastal Rivers State. amount by 2040.
The plant will run on crude produced at a mar- Not everyone is happy with the plan, how-
ginal field in the area. ever. The gas industry has criticised the strategy
With a capacity of only 5,000 barrels per day for only favouring green hydrogen produced
(bpd), the train’s launch will have little impact using renewables, and omitting blue hydrogen,
on Nigerian fuel supply, much of which comes derived from natural gas. Germany will need a
from abroad. But oil industry figures have called strategy that is inclusive of a wide array of tech-
on the government to deploy these small-sized nologies in order to produce the large quantities
modular refineries en masse in order to wean the of hydrogen it will need in the future and at the
country off costly imports. best price, the industry argues.
Meanwhile, Iran continues to supply gaso- Norwegian operators Aker BP and Equinor
line to Venezuela, drawing heavy criticism from have announced new investments on Norway’s
the US. While Tehran has hailed this trade as a Continental Shelf (NCS), after the government
political triumph, Washington has threatened granted tax relief aimed at encouraging more
to retaliate. The supplies should help Venezuela projects to go ahead, despite the downturn.
ease shortages, as will its decision to partially lift Equinor is preparing to connect its installa-
long-standing subsidies. tions at the Gina Krog and Sleipner fields to the
Lastly, Kuwait has said it is no longer onshore grid, in order to reduce their emissions.
seeking expatriates for roles in its oil sector, Aker BP, meanwhile, is pushing ahead with
as the government looks to reduce the num- the Hod redevelopment scheme – a project it
ber of foreigners in the Gulf state and pro- shelved back in April because of spending cuts.
tect the local workforce. The employment of Norway’s offshore sector managed surprisingly
foreign workers has been a contentious issue well after the 2014 oil price crash, and looks set
in Kuwait for some time, and the govern- to persevere once more thanks to government
ment is aiming to address it at a time when support.

P12 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 24 18•June•2020