Page 12 - AfrOil Week 07 2022

AfrOil PROJECTS & COMPANIES AfrOil

BP, Shell put Sapref plant on indefinite hold

SOUTH AFRICA BP (UK) and Shell (UK) have announced plans
to suspend operations at the Sapref refinery
indefinitely, saying they cannot commit to any
further expenditures until they make a decision
on the fate of the plant, which they have been
operating through a joint venture.
The two companies went public with their
decision on February 10, explaining in a joint
statement that they intended to freeze invest-
ments and halt operations at the 180,000 barrel
per day (bpd) plant near Durban by the end of
March. “The decision has been taken to allow
an informed finalisation on the various options
available to the shareholders, a sale option being
the most preferred,” they said. “Until decisions
about the future of the plant have been made –
including a possible change of ownership – the The Sapref plant has a throughput capacity of 180,000 bpd (File Photo)
Sapref shareholders are unable to commit to fur-
ther investment in the refinery.” customer-facing businesses in South Africa or
The plant may resume operations in the our fuel supply obligations,” she said.
future under the proper conditions, which Mojapelo also stated that BP remained com-
may include a sale, the statement said. In the mitted to selling its stake in the refinery. “Sapref
meantime, it said, Sapref’s shareholders Shell has made immense economic contributions at
and BP will make use of their other assets and both a local and national scale,” she commented.
existing arrangements to ensure fuel deliveries “For this reason, we continue to pursue the sale
to customers and preserve South Africa’s energy of our share in the refinery so that it can con-
supplies. tinue to advance its legacy as a reliable, safe and
Taelo Mojapelo, CEO of BP Southern Africa, productive asset.”
stressed this point. “Leading up to the refining Sapref is the largest refinery in South Africa.
pause, we have put contingencies in place to It accounts for about 35% of the country’s
ensure that this decision does not impact our oil-processing capacity. ™

Pouyanné says Mozambique LNG

restart may take more than a year

MOZAMBIQUE PATRICK Pouyanné, the CEO of TotalEnergies that Mozambique’s armed forces had made pro-
(France), has qualified his recent statements gress on the Afungi Peninsula, with help from
about the possibility that work on the Mozam- the troops deployed by Rwanda and member
bique LNG project may resume before the end states of the Southern African Development
of this year. Community (SADC). For example, he said,
Speaking with analysts during a quarterly Maputo has managed to regain control of Palma,
earnings call on February 10, Pouyanné stressed the town closest to the Mozambique LNG con-
that security conditions would determine the sortium’s natural gas liquefaction plant. But he
date of the restart. The Mozambique LNG pro- also pointed out that the coalition had not yet
ject has been idle since late last March, when the regained full control over Cabo Delgado and
French major and its partners declared force said that his company was waiting for normal
majeure in response to a wave of attacks by Ahlu life to resume.
Sunna Wa-Jamo, a separatist Islamist group The French major wants to see the civilian
with ties to Islamic State (Daesh), on commu- population return to the area, he explained.
nities near its construction site on the Afungi “That will be the signal. We will not build a plant
Peninsula. in a country where we’ll be surrounded by sol-
The TotalEnergies CEO also acknowledged diers. It does not work like that,” he remarked.

P12 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 07 16•February•2022