Page 6 - AfrOil Week 18 2022

AfrOil PIPELINES & TRANSPORT AfrOil

Work on storage tank at Zueitina (Photo: VAOS)

NOC temporarily resumes work at

Zueitina following force majeure

LIBYA LIBYA’S National Oil Corp. (NOC) reported on shutdown, but is greatly concerned about its
Sunday, May 1, that it had been able to recom- ability to maintain the integrity of its storage
mence work at the Zueitina export terminal fol- tanks and infrastructure under the circum-
lowing a declaration of force majeure, at least on stances. Late last week, it expressed great con-
a temporary basis. cern about the possibility of environmental
In a statement, NOC said that the terminal damage from leaks and said its tank farm needed
had been able to resume normal operations and urgent technical repair and maintenance work
continue working long enough to transfer dis- to prevent damage. It also called on the country’s
placed volumes of oil into storage and load crude rival political leaders to resolve their disputes as
onto two tankers. It attributed these successes to soon as possible in order to facilitate the resump-
“the efforts of the loyal people of this country tion of crude oil exports from Zueitina and the
and ... regular and continuous communication rehabilitation of the terminal’s facilities.
with the all parties.” Libya’s main oilfields and export terminals
The state-owned company was working to have witnessed repeated closures as a result of
address the problems it was facing as a result protests, political power struggles and other
of the abrupt shutdown of the Zueitina export disruptions. Production has been suspended
terminal last week. That event left NOC with multiple times as workers’ wages have not been
no way to ensure proper handling of Abu-Attefl paid on time.
crude, a waxy grade from the Abu-Attefl and Oil Minister Mohamed Oun said late last
Rimal oilfields that must be stored and trans- month that the closure of the country’s main oil-
ported in special heated networks so that it does fields and ports was causing the country to lose
not wax over and block or overload pipes. more than $60mn per day. NOC declared force
NOC has been attempting to store the vol- majeure in April after protests led to the closure
umes of Abu-Attefl that built up in the pipeline of multiple sites – including Sharara, the coun-
leading to the Zueitina terminal following the try’s biggest oilfield, located in western Libya. ™

INVESTMENT
Pouyanné: TotalEnergies to sell SPDC stake

NIGERIA TOTALENERGIES (France) will trim its port- gas licences in the southern part of the country.
folio in Nigeria by unloading its minority stake Patrick Pouyanné, the company’s CEO,
in Shell Petroleum Development Corp. (SPDC), announced plans to exit SPDC on April 28, dur-
a joint venture that operates 19 onshore oil and ing a conference call on first-quarter earnings.

P6 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 18 04•May•2022