Page 9 - DMEA Week 03 2023
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DMEA                                  PIPELINES & TRANSPORT                                           DMEA


       Iraq and Jordan to begin work




       on cross-border pipeline






        MIDDLE EAST      THE governments of Iraq and Jordan this week  Jordan Petroleum Refinery Co. (JoPetrol) at
                         said that they would soon begin implementing  Zarqa and covering its full capacity.
                         the Basra-Aqaba crude oil pipeline, with bilateral   China’s Sinopec Engineering won a $3bn con-
                         ties continuing to strengthen.       tract for the expansion of Project Petra, designed
                           Meetings were held during a four-day visit to  to raise the refinery’s capacity rise from 60,000
                         Baghdad by Jordanian parliamentary speaker  bpd to 150,000 bpd.
                         Ahmad Al-Safadi, with discussions covering the   With concerns having previously been raised
                         long-awaited pipeline, grid interconnection and  about the potential for the pipeline’s costs to spi-
                         broader economic collaboration.      ral, Halbousi stressed that “the financial cost of
                           Al-Safadi’s Iraqi counterpart Muhammad  the Basra-Aqaba pipeline has been reduced”.
                         Halbousi told a press conference: “We discussed   Estimates for its construction have come in
                         bilateral relations and important economic sec-  as high as $26bn based on a $4bn fee to develop
                         tors, as we discussed in detail the electrical grid  the Iraqi portion of the line, with the section in
                         connection [wire] between Iraq and Jordan.”  Jordanian territory costing up to $22bn. A price
                         Meanwhile, “increasing the outlets for selling  of $12bn has also been quoted for implementing
                         Iraqi oil is an important issue, as it will increase  the project, while in 2019, $18bn was talked of as
                         Iraq’s imports,” he added.           the sum for constructing an extended version of
                           Halbousi praised “Jordan’s positions in sup-  the line running to Egypt.
                         port of Iraq” and said: “We highly appreciate   In November 2021, the Ministry of Oil
                         Al-Safadi’s visit to Baghdad and the Jordanian  (MoO) said that technical and commercial talks
                         support for the Iraqi people.”       were ongoing but added that the project was
                           The project will be divided into two parts: the  only likely to proceed if costs were reduced sig-
                         first phase includes installing a 56-inch (1,422-  nificantly, offering a ballpark figure of “less than
                         mm), 680-km pipeline with a capacity of 2.25mn  $9bn”.
                         barrels per day (bpd) from the Rumaila oilfield   Last year, Jordanian Minister of Energy and
                         to Najaf, built in three phases.     Mineral Resources Saleh Kharabsheh gave
                           The second package covers the installation  a price of $7-9bn. A few months later, MoO
                         of a 42-inch (1,066-mm), 973-km pipeline  spokesman Assem Jihad said that the ministry
                         from Najaf to the Jordanian border and on to  had received two proposals to finance the pro-
                         Aqaba with a capacity of 1mn bpd. The latter  ject at a higher cost, noting an upper limit of
                         will include a spur carrying 150,000 bpd to the  $8.5bn.™





       Algeria’s $400mn plan to protect facilities






        AFRICA           THE Algerian government has unveiled a new  of dozens of people, including foreigners.
                         plan that will cost $400mn to protect oil and gas   Algerian Energy and Mines Minister
                         fields in the country against potential terrorist  Mohamed Arkab previously praised the effec-
                         acts, Toufik Hakkar, the head of the state energy  tive and decisive role of the military in protecting
                         group Sonatrach, said on Monday, January 16.  public and private facilities and properties.
                           According to the plan, some 22,000 secu-  Last week, Sonatrach announced it would
                         rity guards will be deployed to protect oil and  invest more than $30bn in the exploration and
                         gas infrastructure security systems, industrial  production of hydrocarbons over the next five
                         sites and oil pipelines. It will be implemented  years, notably natural gas, in a bid to improve
                         with the support of the state, Hakkar explained.  exports.
                         Sonatrach oil pipelines extend over 22,000 km.    The investments come within the framework
                           The plan was revealed on the tenth anni-  of Sonatrach’s five-year investment plan (2023-
                         versary of a terrorist attack that targeted the  2027), estimated at $40bn. The investment plan
                         Tiguentourine gas processing facility in south-  also includes preparing a portfolio of future nat-
                         ern Algeria. This incident resulted in the killing  ural gas projects.™




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