Page 13 - AfrOil Week 47 2021

AfrOil PROJECTS & COMPANIES AfrOil

At the time, SONARA’s general manager Jean- blend of the 30°API Kole grade and Equatorial
Paul Simo Njonou thanked the government for Guinean Alba condensate provides a portion of
their earlier efforts to keep the company afloat. SONARA’s feedstock, the majority comes from
Local media described the deal as a “breath of Nigeria. ™
fresh air” for SONARA, but the facility’s future
remains up in the air, with Cameroon’s National
Development Strategy outlining plans for “a new
and large regional refinery in Kribi.”
Plans to build an 80,000 bpd unit at the
southern port are logical, with Kribi already
home to Cameroon’s main oil export terminal,
the Kome-Kribi floating storage and off-loading
(FSO) vessel and the end point of the 1,070-km,
225,000 bpd Chad-Cameroon oil pipeline.
The rationale for doubling down on Kribi as
the country’s downstream hub is further sup-
ported by Limbe’s processing capabilities being
largely limited to imported crude.
When it was built in the 1970s, SONARA was
geared as a topping and reforming unit to pro-
cess Arabian Light crude (33°API). However,
Cameroon’s domestic crude streams are pre-
dominantly medium/heavy blends and while a The Limbe refinery was damaged by a fire in mid-2019 (Image: SONARA)

South Africa’s first-ever LNG shipment

seen helping green energy transition

SOUTH AFRICA SOUTH Africa has received its first-ever Mbalati said the arrival of the LNG consignment
container of LNG at the Port of Ngqurha in is an inflection point for South Africa’s energy
Gqeberha, in the Eastern Cape, from the Neth- market.
erlands. South Africa’s DNG Energy Group is “This marks a key moment in our shift from
the architect of the $5bn project. coal-fired and oil-fired power generation to
The alternative energy company aims to cleaner alternatives,” he said. “Along with renew-
establish a pan-African LNG supply network ables like wind and solar, the new generation of
as an alternative to South Africa’s dependency gas technology brings low-cost power produc-
on coal. tion capabilities to the market on a massive
Over the past few months, South Africa has scale.”
indicated that it is willing to move away from Mbalati further stated that LNG could play a
coal, and DNG Energy said LNG represents an key role in helping the country meet its carbon
excellent alternative that will help cut green- emission goals and providing power to a grow-
house gas (GHG) emissions, reduce air pollu- ing population as the world makes the transition
tion and help slow global warming. towards a zero-carbon energy future.
The development is a precursor to the com- In addition to being an abundant energy
missioning and delivery of DNG’s first floating resource for generating electricity and provid-
storage unit (FSU) in the first quarter of 2022. ing fuel for industrial processes and heating,
DNG believes it will set the stage for a new era the CEO explained, LNG can be used as a raw
of growth, competition and sustainability in the material to produce chemicals, fertiliser and
energy market. hydrogen. It can also be used in several residen-
In a statement, the company described “this tial, commercial and transport applications, he
affordable alternative energy” as the culmina- noted.
tion of a $5bn, seven-year investment in infra- “We look at the LNG value chain in a holistic
structure, saying it would catalyse the growth of way, from source to consumption, with ambi-
a new gas economy in South Africa. LNG will tious expansion infrastructure plans for South
also support the shift to more sustainable energy Africa, Mozambique and Nigeria,” said Mbalati.
sources, facilitate industrialisation, create new “Over the next few years, LNG has the poten-
jobs and offer commercial customers more tial to drive significant growth and job creation,
choice, it said. while helping South Africa reduce its emissions
DNG Energy Group’s CEO Aldworth by as much as 30% to 40%.” ™

Week 47 24•November•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P13