Page 19 - DMEA Week 34

DMEA NEWS IN BRIEF DMEA

UAE gaseoline price away from those states. The railway projects required for the CFP has now been put in
place. Major structural elements, notably 2
are not stalled too.
announced for Septembe blame because they instigate insecurity by new fractionators and 24 atmospheric residue
“The multinationals are sometimes to
desulfurizer reactors have been installed at
Fuel prices in the UAE were left unchanged paying militants and turn around to blame it the site over the past two months. Each of
for the month of September on August 27. on the people. the 317-tonne fractionators was transported
Super 98 gasoline will cost AED1.91 “There is no excuse to operate outside our to the UAE from South Korea. Installing the
per litre, while Special 95 gasoline will cost state. The federal government should compel 80-meter structures took three weeks across
AED1.80 per litre. them to relocate their headquarters to the June and July 2020. They will serve to separate
E-plus petrol will now be AED1.72 per state as the hub of the hydrocarbon industry,” the component products within the crude oil
litre, while diesel will cost AED2.06 per he said. to allow for further refining.
litre. He noted that the NNPC has not done Upon completion in mid-2022, the CFP
UAE fuel prices were last revised in anything substantial for the state after many will allow ADNOC to process up to 420,000
April, and have been unchanged since then. years of operation, adding that the Port barrels per day of heavier and sourer grades of
Harcourt refinery has continued to operate crude oil, as part of the 840,000 bpd refinery
below installed capacity, even as the access in Ruwais.
Nigerian govt to build new road has been in a poor state for years.
“I urge you as minister and members of
refinery in Rivers the board of directors to dualize the three Nigeria’s Waltersmith to
kilometres road and change the narrative,”
The federal government has said it plans to he stated. launch mini-refinery in
build a third refinery in Rivers State bringing Wike noted the patriotism Slyva had
the total in the state to three. demonstrated by attracting federal projects September
This is as the Rivers State Governor, to his state and urged other ministers to
Nyesom Wike, insisted that the Niger Delta emulate him. Waltersmith Petroman, a Nigerian
region is safe for companies to conduct their He said even if the minister is of the independent producer, will open a
businesses and demanded that international opposition party in Bayelsa State, his sense of 5,000-barrel per day capacity modular
oil companies (IOCs) relocate their patriotism has made him to place the interest refinery next month in Nigeria, which despite
headquarters to the state. of the state above partisan interests. being Africa’s biggest oil producer imports
The duo spoke Sunday when the Minister almost all of its refined products.
of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief The company, Nigeria’s first producer
Timipri Sylva, and the management of the ADNOC reports progress at from marginal fields, plans to increase output
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation to 30,000 bpd in two years, Chief Executive
(NNPC) paid a courtesy visit to Wike at the Ruwais refining project Officer Chikezie Nwosu said on August 26 at
Government House, Port Harcourt. a webinar.
Sylva also said plans had reached an The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company Nigeria is desperately trying to revive its
advanced stage to rehabilitate the existing confirmed significant progress made on refining industry that has languished for years.
refineries in the country. its “Crude Flexibility Project”, with 73% It has commissioned the revamping of four
He said the federal government decided project delivery of ADNOC’s ongoing state-owned refineries with a total capacity
to start the rehabilitation programme from upgrade of refining capabilities in Ruwais of 445,000 bpd while Africa’s richest person,
the two refineries in Port Harcourt because and strengthening the role of Ruwais as a Aliko Dangote, is also building a plant with
Rivers State is the headquarters of the critical driver for industrial growth for Abu a capacity of 650,000 bpd that will help cut
hydrocarbon industry. Dhabi and the UAE. For more than 40 years, Nigeria’s $7bn annual fuel-import bill.
The minister of state for petroleum ADNOC has predominantly refined Murban “We expect that by September we should
resources also commended Wike for being grade crude, extracted from its onshore fields be ready to test-run the refinery, now at 98%
persistent in his quest to get the Refinery in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. The CFP allows completion,” he said. “We’re going to grow its
Road dualised and promised that the for the Upper Zakum grade, extracted from capacity by an additional 25,000 bpd to make
ministry would support the move. Abu Dhabi’s offshore oil fields, to be processed it 30,000 bpd.”
In his response, Wike urged multinational along with over 50 other types of different An earlier plan to commission the refinery,
companies to stop using insecurity to justify crudes. built by Houston-based VFuels, in May was
their refusal to relocate their operational In 2018, ADNOC announced plans to hampered by the coronavirus pandemic,
headquarters to the Niger Delta region. diversify the feedstocks it processes. The USD Nwosu said.
The governor wondered why insecurity 3.5bn CFP upgrade initiative is a core driver The crude processing plant is part of
does not prevent the drilling of oil but could of ADNOC Downstream’s 2030 smart growth a bigger industrial energy park that will
be used to deprive the state what is due to it. strategy. The project will increase the value serve as a manufacturing base for oil and
“They use insecurity issues to place us in ADNOC derives from every barrel of oil, both gas components. The project includes
a disadvantaged position and deny us our by boosting refining margins and by leaving a 30-megawatt power station, which
right. more high-value Murban crude available for Waltersmith will expand to about 300
“There is insecurity in Lagos, Kaduna and export. megawatts.
Katsina States. Yet, companies do not run Much of the physical infrastructure

Week 34 27•August•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P19