Page 12 - DMEA Week 15 2020

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Libya says gas flows disrupted after unauthorised pipeline closure
LIBYA
Libya’s Zawiya refinery has been offline since February.
LIBYA’S National Oil Corp. (NOC) has reported a disruption in natural gas flows through a pipe- line serving the western part of the country.
In a statement, NOC said that the pipeline had been subject to an “illegal closure ... at valve LVS-5 in the region of Sidi el-Sayeh.” It did not identify the culprits but said that the incident had led to a suspension in gas deliveries to local cement factories and to thermal power plants (TPPs) in Misurata and el-Khoms.
The incident led to electricity shortages in parts of western Libya, the company added.
NOC and one of its subsidiaries, Brega Petroleum Marketing Co. (BPMC), responded to the disruption of gas deliveries by sending diesel to local power stations that were capable of burning liquid fuels to produce electricity. It noted, though, that this move had strained the company.
“[Diesel deliveries] will increase costs and put further pressure on reduced budgets, [owing] to the ongoing disruption of local refineries as a result of oil blockades in the country,” it said.
Mustafa Sanalla, the chairman of NOC, crit- icised the parties responsible for the closure of
the pipeline. The incident could hamper efforts to rein in the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, he asserted.
“At a critical juncture in the fight against COVID-19, some Libyans decided to abuse the situation and starve the capital of electricity,” Sanalla said. “This puts more pressure on NOC to import large quantities of fuel, which is espe- cially difficult due to the new restrictions put in place to stop the spread of the disease. This crimi- nal and inhumane closure must end immediately without delay.”
The NOC chief was speaking shortly before the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) announced that it had retaken control of three cities from the Libyan National Army (LNA), a separatist group loyal to mili- tary commander Khalifa Haftar. On April 13, the GNA reported that it had wrested Surman, Habratha and Al-Ajaylat away from LNA forces. All three cities lie west of Tripoli and are not far from Zawiya, the home of a refinery that NOC took offline in February after Haftar’s allies closed the pipelines that supply it with crude oil.™
NGOs urge bank not to fund Uganda- Tanzania oil pipeline
TANZANIA
More than 100 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have banded together to urge the African Development Bank (AfDB) to refuse loans to Uganda
and Tanzania for the construction of a new oil export pipeline.
MORE than 100 non-governmental organisa- tions (NGOs) have banded together to urge the African Development Bank (AfDB) to refuse loans to Uganda and Tanzania for the construc- tion of a new oil export pipeline.
According to the East African, the NGOs recently outlined their position in a letter to AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina. In the letter, they criticised the proposed East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) and described it as “exceptionally high-risk.” They argued that the project would cause irreparable harm to areas through which the pipeline is meant to pass.
The letter stressed that EACOP carried signif- icant risks for the environment and the climate, not least because it aimed to facilitate the use of fossil fuels. It also claimed that emissions from the project had the potential to harm the farm- ing communities in areas adjacent to the pipeline
in both Uganda and Tanzania. Additionally, it highlighted the potential for damage to biodi- versity and natural habitats in the same regions.
Moreover, the NGOs expressed concern about the possibility of social and economic risks for the local population. Building EACOP will require the governments of Uganda and Tanza- nia to engage in large-scale land acquisition that could lead to forced resettlement and loss of live- lihood for residents of areas along the proposed pipeline route, they said.
“We do not consider that these concerns can be adequately mitigated,” they stated in the letter. “As such, we urge the bank not to proceed with financing this project but to seek opportunities instead to finance genuine renewable infrastruc- ture to help meet the region’s energy needs in a clean and rights-compatible manner in the dec- ades to come.”
The NGOs asked Adesina to respond to the
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