Page 11 - DMEA Week 50 2022

DMEA REFINING & FUELS DMEA

Hungary signs political agreement

paving way for Qatari gas purchases

MIDDLE EAST HUNGARY has signed a political agreement had booked the equivalent of 1 bcm capacity
clearing the way for the start of talks between annually at the Krk terminal for the next seven
energy group MVM and QatarEnergy on the years, making Hungary the terminal’s largest
purchase of Qatari natural gas, Minister of For- client. These volumes of gas would be sufficient
eign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto said in to cover roughly 10% of the country’s annual
Doha on December 14. consumption
Qatar is the world’s second-biggest exporter Under a 15-year deal signed last year with
of LNG and is upgrading production and deliv- Gazprom, Hungary currently receives 4.5 bcm
ery capacities, Szijjarto said, adding that Hun- of gas per year via Bulgaria and Serbia. ™
gary could “realistically” start taking deliveries
of Qatari gas within three years if Croatia scales
up capacity of its LNG terminal on the Adriatic
coast.
He also highlighted the role of the European
Union, saying infrastructure developments
will be needed in order to bring large volumes
of natural gas to Hungary via the southern and
south-eastern European LNG terminals.
If Croatia expands the capacity of the Krk
LNG terminal as it has promised, there will be
a realistic possibility for Hungary to receive gas
from Qatar within about three years, according
to Hungary’s top diplomat.
Before the pandemic, Budapest revealed its
interest in acquiring a 25% stake in the capital of
state-owned LNG Croatia, the developer of the
LNG terminal project. Hungary is still aspiring
to gain minority ownership, but it appears this
does not enjoy political support in Croatia.
In 2020, Hungary’s state-owned MVM group Szijjarto (L) met Energy Minister Said Al-Kaabi (R) in Doha (Photo: doha.mfa.gov.hu)

South Africa’s PIC, IDC stand to lose more

than $580mn in Sunrise Energy LPG project

AFRICA SOUTH Africa’s national development finance up of Ilitha Group Holdings Pty at 9%; IDC at
institutions Public Investment Corp. (PIC) and 31%; and Mining, Oil and Gas Services (MOGS)
the Industrial Development Corp. (IDC) stand at 60%. The MOGS shareholding consists of
to lose more than ZAR1bn ($580mn) invested Royal Bafokeng Holdings (RBH) at 51% and
in the Sunrise Energy LPG project, located in PIC at 49%.
Saldanha Bay, Western Cape. According to IOL, Ilitha has applied to the
This project was executed on the back of Western Cape High Court for placing Sunrise
receiving a concession from the Transnet Energy into business rescue (a legal process
National Ports Authority to build an open-ac- aimed at facilitating the rehabilitation of a finan-
cess import terminal and storage facility so that cially distressed company). The court hearing
all LPG importers, distributors and bulk con- took place on December 7. The details in the
sumers may use its infrastructure and services, application show that the Sunrise Energy busi-
local media outlet IOL writes. ness has been loss-making ever since its com-
The shareholding of Sunrise Energy is made missioning in 2017.

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