Page 16 - AfrOil Week 32

AfrOil PROJECTS & COMPANIES AfrOil

And that upstream project has now fallen far operating Blocks 1 and 1A, and CNOOC was
behind schedule. operating Block 3A. Development of these
Tullow failed to make much progress in four blocks, which contain the Kingfisher and
Uganda last year, largely owing to tax disputes Tilenga oilfields, is likely to require about $6.7bn
with the government that derailed its farm- worth of investments.
out agreement with Total (France) and China Total has also acquired Tullow’s 33.3% stake
National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC). As a in the East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP)
result, it missed the deadline for making a final project, which will be used to export most of the
investment decision (FID) on its upstream pro- crude extracted from the Ugandan fields. The
ject, which will eventually yield 230,000 bpd. French company will work with Uganda and
This, in turn, pushed back the target date for Tanzania to build the $3.55bn pipeline along a
starting work on the refinery. 1,445-km route from Hoima, a city near Lake
Since then, the parties have removed some Albert, to Tanga, a port on the shore of the
of the obstacles in their path. Tullow and Total Indian Ocean.
unveiled a new deal in April, and CNOOC When finished, the link will be able to handle
has decided not to block the latter company 216,000 bpd. ™
from acquiring 100% of the former’s Ugandan
assets. Ugandan authorities have signalled their
approval of the $575mn agreement and have
also expressed the hope that the project might
reach the FID stage before the end of this year.
Doing so would allow the fields to reach first oil
in 2024, with construction work on the refinery
commencing in the same year.
But as Africa Oil + Gas Report noted last
week, the French company is not now expected
to take the FID until 2021 at the earliest. If so,
the target date for first oil will have to be pushed
back until at least 2025, and work on the refinery
will have to be postponed as well.
Under its agreement with Tullow, Total has
increased its stake in Blocks 1, 1A, 2 and 3A from
33.33% to 66.67%. Tullow had been serving
as operator of Block 2, while Total was already EACOP will handle most of Uganda’s oil output (Image: Uganda Business Centre)

Nigeria pins hopes on Dangote refinery

NIGERIA NIGERIA is counting on the giant Dangote Behind the $10bn venture is private con-
refining complex starting up next year to help glomerate Dangote, run by Nigerian business
reduce its sizeable fuel import bill, at a time mogul Aliko Dangote.
when its economy is reeling from the coronavi- In early July, the Netherlands’ Mammoet
rus (COVID-19) pandemic and the oil price col- finished the transport and lifting of heavy com-
lapse. However, it looks increasingly likely that ponents at the refinery, while Swiss supplier Sul-
the ambitious project will fall further behind zer said it had finished the design and supply of
schedule. internals for all of the refinery’s columns.
Nigeria is Africa’s biggest oil producer. But Dangote recently said the technical comple-
the country relies heavily on comparatively tion of the plant was likely to be pushed back
expensive fuel imports as its main state-run from December this year to February or March
refineries have fallen into disrepair, as successive 2021. Some disruptions have been caused by
governments have failed to adequately invest in COVID-19 restrictions on movement. Com-
their upkeep. missioning is due to begin thereafter, according
The 650,000 barrel per day (bpd) Dangote to Dangote, with the facility reaching its full pro-
refining project has been hailed as the answer. duction capacity around six months later.
The plant, situated in the Lekki free trade zone However, recent setbacks may be more sig-
(FTZ) near Lagos, will be Africa’s largest. It will nificant than Dangote has admitted.
consist of a single primary refining train, along “Given the string of delays the project has
with polypropylene and urea production units already faced since it was first announced in
and gas processing facilities. It will be capable of 2013, late 2021 or early 2022 would appear to be
producing enough fuel not only to meet domes- a more realistic time for completion,” Ian Simm,
tic demand but provide Nigeria with a surplus principal advisor at consultancy IGM Energy,
for export. told NewsBase. ™

P16 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 32 12•August•2020