Page 13 - DMEA Week 12 2023

DMEA NEWS IN BRIEF DMEA

POLICY networks and facilitate the digital Dr. Joseph Obel, said the assurances of the
transformation of the Kingdom, according to minister were one too many without result.
Egypt’s import bill dropped a press release. in Port Harcourt on Thursday and sent to
Obele said this in a statement issued
It noted that both companies will
to $1bn in December 2022 work together to contribute to the digital newsmen.
While noting that it was not the first time
transformation of various industrial sectors
Egypt’s import bill for hydrocarbons and their in the Kingdom which includes energy, the minister was making such a promise, he
by-products retreated by $76mn to $1bn in petrochemical, and manufacturing. said it was unfortunate that on each occasion,
December 2022, mostly affected by falling Aramco, with the help of Samsung he had failed to deliver and that he would fail
imports of crude oil and refined petroleum Electronics, will leverage advanced 4G and again.
products, Al Mal newspaper reported. 5G technologies to provide secure, fast, and He stated that the Federal Government
Crude oil imports were down by $125mn reliable communication means to meet the was not committed to fixing the refineries and
at $110mn, while refined petroleum products critical requirements of businesses operating seeing them function, adding that Nigeria is
imports fell by $49mn to $735mn in in various industries. the only ‘critical’ member of the Organisation
December 2022, while natural gas imports The new MoU was signed by Aramco, just of Petroleum Exporting Countries without a
mostly from offshore Israeli fields grew by two months after it launched a new digital functional refinery.
$97mn to $117mn. Likewise, imports of firm during the In-Kingdom Total Value Add he statement read: “The Minister of State
coal, mostly for the iron and steel industry, Forum, also known as iktva. for Petroleum did promise Nigerians that
increased by $3.9mn to $34mn in December “We are planning to invest $1.9 billion the Port Harcourt refinery would commence
2022. over the next three years, making it the operations by December 2022, he failed.
Egypt imports crude and refined biggest Aramco investment in digital to date, “Secondly, he said by first quarter of 2023,
petroleum products to complement its while adding value to the Kingdom’s digital he failed. Now, he is saying second quarter of
middle tier hydrocarbons producer status. ecosystem,” said Amin Nasser, Aramco’s 2023, he will definitely fail.
Its domestic production of all types of president, and CEO following the launch. “They are not committed to seeing the
hydrocarbons hit 79.5mn tonnes for the full ARAB NEWS refinery functional. They are comfortable
year 2022, out of which crude petroleum and importing from the international market
condensates accounted for 27.8mn tonnes, because they have shares in those foreign
with the remainder 52mn tonnes of oil REFINING refineries.
equivalent (toe) being natural gas production. “It will take a corrupt-free government to
High natural gas prices over the past year IPMAN faults minister make our refineries functional, then and only
expanded Egypt’s natural gas export bill to the persistent fuel scarcity will be a thing of
$8.4bn in 2022, up from $3.5bn in 2021. over Port Harcourt refinery the past and Nigerians will buy fuel less than
NEWSBASE #100 per litre.”
completion date said, “We don’t trust them anymore, so they
Continuing, the state IPMAN Chairman
COMPANIES The Independent Petrol Marketers should stop making promises and continue
Association of Nigeria has faulted the Minister importing from those foreign refineries
Aramco, Samsung sign of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva, over his owned by their business partners.
“Nigeria is the only critical member of
assurance on the completion date of the Port
digital transformation deal Harcourt refinery. OPEC without a functional refinery, we
Sylva had at a seminar by defence
should be ashamed as a nation.”
Global energy giant Saudi Aramco has correspondents recently in Abuja said the PUNCH
signed a non-binding memorandum of refinery would be ready before the end of the
understanding with Samsung Electronics second quarter of the year. NDEP doubles its refining
to localise industrial 5G communication But the IPMAN Chairman in Rivers State,
output in Ogbele

Niger Delta Exploration & Production
(NDEP) Plc, produced 152.84Million litres
of diesel, kerosene, high pour fuel oil and
naphtha from its three -phase refinery in 2022.
Nigeria’s best ranked indigenous E&P firm
doubled its output of petroleum products for
the second consecutive year: 2022’s was 105%
increase on 2021’s 74.53Million litres. That
itself was double the output of 37mn litres in
2020.
“The refinery was the focal point for the
company’s realising value in 2022”, says Gbite
Falade, the company’s CEO.
The surge in production was extracted in
a severely challenging business environment.

Week 12 23•March•2023 www. NEWSBASE .com P13