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AfrOil PIPELINES & TRANSPORT AfrOil

USTDA grants Senegal $1.3mn

to study proposed gas pipeline

SENEGAL THE US Trade and Development Agency electricity generation to clean, inexpensive nat-
(USTDA) has provided Senegal with funding ural gas, using its own energy resources.”
for the study of a natural gas pipeline project. Abrajano made similar points. “This pipeline
In a statement, USTDA said that it had will become the backbone of Senegal’s domes-
agreed to cover the cost of the study with a grant tic gas sector and [will] help create the infra-
worth nearly $1.3mn. It also reported that it had structure to supply the country’s power plants
marked the signing of an agreement on the grant and transform its energy sector,” he said. “US
on August 28 with a virtual ceremony attended companies are eager to partner with Senegal
by its chief operating officer Todd Abrajano and on this opportunity, and we intend to make a
US Ambassador to Senegal Tulinabo Mushingi. meaningful difference in the lives of millions of
Also in attendance were Senegal’s Minister of Senegalese by reducing power generation costs
Petroleum and Energy Mouhamadou Makhtar by up to 50%.”
Cisse and Papa Demba Diallo, the CEO of Sen- Diallo said the grant and the study would
egal’s sovereign wealth fund, Fonds Souverain help make the case for the pipeline. “This grant
d’Investissements Stratégiques (FONSIS). from USTDA will help us define the technical
Senegal intends to use the grant to assess the specifications and economic aspects of this very
feasibility of plans to build the country’s first strategic project for our country and thus allow
major onshore gas pipeline, USTDA noted. us to accelerate its implementation,” he said.
In turn, the study is expected to help FONSIS The project will also bolster Senegal’s econ-
attract funding for the construction of the pipe- omy and benefit local consumers, Diallo
line, which will carry gas from Senegal’s offshore asserted. “[This] is a strategic project that will
fields, it said. accelerate the use of gas, especially in electricity
“Specifically, the feasibility study will recom- production, and contribute to lowering the cost
mend a final pipeline route, finalise technical of electricity,” he stated. “This will help spur Sen-
specifications for each segment of the pipeline egal’s industrial sector and make our companies
and define the technical requirements for the more competitive.” ™
front-end engineering and design [FEED] phase
of the project,” the agency said in its statement.
“The study will also verify [Senegalese domestic]
gas demand and provide updated economic and
financial analysis.”
Senegal’s government hopes that this pipe-
line will support the country’s power-generating
industry by underpinning domestic demand for
cleaner-burning and lower-cost fuel, USTDA
said. Mushingi stressed this point, saying that
the project would “help Senegal transition its Senegal signed the deal in late August (Photo: USTDA)

INVESTMENT
Woodside signs binding agreement on

acquisition of Cairn’s Sangomar stake

SENEGAL AUSTRALIA’S Woodside Energy has struck reported that it had signed a binding sale and
a deal for the acquisition of UK-based Cairn purchase agreement (SPA) on the matter with
Energy’s entire equity stake in RSSD, the joint Cairn. This document is in line with the its
venture established to explore and develop the announcement in mid-August that it would
Sangomar block offshore Senegal. exercise its right to pre-empt Cairn’s plan to sell
In a statement dated September 6, Woodside its 40% stake in RSSD to Russia’s Lukoil.

Week 36 09•September•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P11