Page 18 - AfrOil Week 42

AfrOil POLICY AfrOil

Sudan to use grant money for fuel reform

SUDAN THE World Bank has offered Sudan’s transi- “The numbers circulating in the local media
tional government a grant of $200mn to sup- about fuel prices are just guesses.” He further
port efforts to reform the economy, including stated that the Ministry of Energy and Mining
the energy sector. would not be setting fuel prices, as this would be
The reform agenda includes liberalisation the responsibility of the Ministry of Finance or
measures tying domestic fuel prices, which the Council of Ministers.
have long been subsidised, to world market The World Bank is not the only entity that
levels, local press sources reported earlier this will be supporting Sudan’s fuel price reforms and
week. Radio Dabanga noted that pricing formu- other economic liberalisation measures. Partner
lae would take logistical costs related to trans- states, working through the Sudan Transition
portation and distribution into account but did Support Trust, have agreed to provide another
not elaborate. It did, however, quote Energy and $200mn worth of funding, bringing the total
Mining Minister Kheiri Abdelrahman as saying value of the grant package to $400mn.
that the government would refer to the parallel Sudan has experienced widespread fuel
market when setting prices in Sudanese pounds. shortages in recent months. The transitional
Abdelrahman went on to say that the tran- government, which took power after President
sitional government had been working since Omar al-Bashir was deposed by the military last
August to lay the groundwork for the liberali- year, has attributed the supply crunch to a block-
sation of domestic fuel prices. Officials in Khar- age in the pipeline that pumps oil from fields in
toum expect to wrap up this process by the end Kordofan State to the Khartoum refinery. It has
of October, he said. tried to cover gaps with imported fuel, but the
The minister dismissed recent speculation dependence on foreign suppliers has drained the
about the details of new pricing policies, saying: country’s foreign currency reserves. ™

PROJECTS & COMPANIES
NNPC pledges to ensure crude oil

supplies to Ibigwe modular refinery

ANGOLA NIGERIAN National Petroleum Corp. (NNPC) largely need in this country.”
has pledged to ensure reliable deliveries of crude Usman paid a visit to the refinery last week,
oil to the new modular refinery that Waltersmith ahead of a commissioning ceremony scheduled
Petroman Oil is building at the Ibigwe oilfield in for October 26. He praised Waltersmith’s efforts
Imo State. to establish new domestic capacity, saying: “It is
Mele Kyari, the group managing director of a landmark achievement and it shows that we
state-owned NNPC, said in a message to the can actually refine our crude oil in-country.”
Nigerian company last week that his company Abdulrasaq Isah, the company’s chairman,
wanted the refinery project to succeed and help responded by saying that the new refinery would
the country reduce its reliance on imported be able to start delivering its production to the
petroleum products. To this end, state-owned market immediately after commissioning, as
NNPC will provide support on an operational it had already signed off-take agreements with
level by ensuring the 5,000 barrel per day (bpd) a number of buyers. “We will be producing
plant’s access to feedstock and on a policy level 271mn litres of petroleum products to meet
by collaborating with relevant institutions, he some of the requirement of [the] south-eastern
stated. market,” he stated.
“We will work closely with Waltersmith to Waltersmith began constructing the Ibigwe
ensure that it gets enough crude feedstock it refinery’s first stage in 2018. Isah noted last week
needs to operate seamlessly,” Kyari wrote in a that the company hoped to expand the plant’s
message delivered to Waltersmith’s management capacity to 50,000 bpd in multiple stages. “We
by Yusuf Usman, the COO of NNPC’s Gas and have started with the first module, which is
Power division. “We are also looking forward to 5,000 barrels. The next module will be 25,000
the Phase 2 of the project when the refinery will barrels. Then the finale module will be 20,000,”
start producing premium [gasoline], which we he explained. ™

P18 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 42 21•October•2020