Page 15 - AfrOil Week 22 2022

AfrOil NEWS IN BRIEF AfrOil

business new africa bna/IntelliNews

congratulate the Ministry of Mines and Hydro-
carbons and TAQA Arabia for the milestone
achieved.
Following a relationship initiated by the two
parties at Africa’s premier event for the oil and
gas sector, African Energy Week (AEW) in 2021,
Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima, the Minister of
Mines and Hydrocarbons of Equatorial Guinea,
and TAQA Arabia executives went on to sign
an agreement to co-operate on infrastructure
rollout including the construction of the Punta
Europe CNG project and CNG supply stations
for vehicles across Equatorial Guinea in March
2022.
With Equatorial Guinea seeking to maximise
This caused a leak that is estimated at 22,000 sufficient supplies of petroleum products on the the production and exploitation of its 1.5 trillion
barrels per day (bpd), according to a statement local market, he said. cubic feet (42.48bn cubic metres) of natural gas
on June 1. Workers are currently trying to seal He also noted that higher prices had put reserves to address domestic energy needs as
off the leak. the public on edge and asserted that education part of the county’s Gas Mega Hub ambitions,
The company said the leak was caused by would help put worries to rest. “I have seen the AEC believes that the collaboration with
delayed budgets and its inability to maintain oil mates actually in fisticuffs with passengers. You TAQA is a positive step in unlocking improved
transmission pipelines at all of its fields. are upset about petroleum price increases and domestic gas utilisation. Recently, the country
The incident adds more pressure on the so on,” he commented. “All of those things came has been bullish in its approach to improving
already-struggling Libyan oilfields that have to our attention, and it is as a result of a lack of domestic gas capacity. Having extended explo-
been witnessing closures on the back of escalated knowledge on how we arrive at these petroleum ration and production contracts for Block G
tensions among armed groups and continued [product] prices.” with Trident Energy, Kosmos Energy, Panoro
political crisis. The country’s two rival govern- Abdul-Hamid also stressed that fuel price Energy and GEPetrol in early May, the country
ments also have conflicting positions on oil rev- increases were a global phenomenon that is fast-tracking partnerships with independents,
enue mechanisms, with incumbent PM Abdul affected even major economies, including the expanding its portfolio of proven gas reserves
Hamid Dbeibah refusing to step down for newly UK and the US. The rise is not a situation that is and production capacity. Now, with the part-
sworn-in eastern PM Fathi Bashagha. under Accra’s direct control, he said. nership between Equatorial Guinea and TAQA,
NOC declared force majeure in April after Meanwhile, Abass Tasunti, in charge of eco- Equatorial Guinea is one step further to becom-
protests led to the closure of multiple sites, nomic regulations at the NPA, took the partic- ing a natural gas economy.
including Sharara, the country’s biggest oilfield, ipants through the dynamics and mechanisms Moreover, with Equatorial Guinea target-
located in western Libya. involved in fuel pricing in Ghana. He also ech- ing the expansion of its gas refinery capacity,
bna/IntelliNews, June 1 2022 oed Abdul-Hamid’s reassurances about supplies, increased penetration of CNG vehicles sets a
adding that the state had put in place measures precedent for downstream and middle-stream
to ensure that the country did not experience any investment in Equatorial Guinea. With the coun-
POLICY shortages of petroleum products. try’s transport sector heavily reliant on diesel and
bna/IntelliNews, May 30 2022 petrol imports to meet its energy needs, increas-
Ghana’s NPA seeks to TAQA Arabia, Equatorial ing investments across the entire gas value chain
will enable the exploitation of domestic gas
educate commercial drivers Guinea introduce CNG resources to meet energy access and affordability
issues whilst also ensuring energy independence
about fuel pricing, supplies through reductions in energy imports.
Additionally, powering the transport indus-
Ghana’s National Petroleum Authority (NPA) vehicles in a bid to optimise try with gas will enable Equatorial Guinea to
staged a workshop on May 25 to educate com- domestic gas utilisation decarbonise its transport sector. In line with
mercial drivers about fuel pricing and quality, a target set by the government to achieve net-
the Times has reported. The African Energy Chamber strongly supports zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, the
The day-long event comes following recent the move taken by Equatorial Guinea to optimise collaboration with TAQA and the expansion
price hikes in petroleum product prices. Ghana, its gas market through the introduction of com- of the country’s gas market enables Equatorial
like many other countries, has seen fuel prices pressed natural gas-powered vehicles. Guinea to align with a law which the govern-
rise in recent months in response to bullish An Egyptian company, TAQA Arabia, has ment implemented in 2018. With Minister Lima
trends on crude oil markets, which have gained a delivered its first five compressed natural gas prioritizing improved cooperation with regional
great deal of momentum due to factors including (CNG)-powered vehicles in Equatorial Guinea counterparts and hydrocarbon producers such
the imposition of Western sanctions on Russia as part of an agreement signed between the firm as Nigeria and Cameroon, the partnership with
following its invasion of Ukraine. and the Ministry of Mines and Hydrocarbons to Egypt’s TAQA provides a blueprint of how Africa
NPA chief executive Mustapha Abdul-Hamid collaborate on the development and expansion can take of advantage of domestic innovation to
said at the workshop that drivers had no cause of the gas market in the central African coun- address industry challenges and maximise the
to be concerned about fuel shortages. Ghana’s try. The African Energy Chamber (AEC), as the exploitation of its resources to make energy pov-
government has put measures in place to ensure voice of the African energy sector, would like to erty history by 2030.

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