Page 13 - AfrOil Week 10 2021

AfrOil PROJECTS & COMPANIES AfrOil

Under these circumstances, Sonatrach must markets. It reported that it was working to opti-
adapt, the newsletter said. To this end, the NOC mise its gas extraction and LNG production
is drawing up “a long-term strategy aimed at facilities in order to serve other regions such as
consolidating its shares in its traditional mar- Asia, where energy demand has been growing.
kets and maximising its revenues, while meeting Additionally, Sonatrach said it remained
constant national demand.” committed to covering domestic gas consump-
On the one hand, this new strategy aims to tion. As such, the new strategy “will allow it
help Algeria take advantage of its proximity to to guarantee the country’s energy security, by
European gas markets compared to other sup- remaining a reliable supplier of gas, capable of
pliers, the company said. On the other hand, responding to a growing demand for energy, at
it stated, the strategy seeks to make the most a national and international level,” the newsletter
of Algeria’s diverse options for exporting gas, said.
which include pipelines as well as gas liquefac- Achieving these goals is likely to require
tion plants and LNG tankers. more than a new long-term marketing strategy.
Sonatrach went on to say that it was trying to Algeria saw its gas output sink to record lows
be as flexible as possible with respect to market- in 2019, and pipeline exports to Spain and Italy
ing its gas and would continue to be so. Thus far, dropped in the same year. LNG exports then
it said, responding to fluctuations in the market declined in 2020, even as production of oil and
and adapting to shifts in customers’ needs “has gas declined. At the same time, domestic gas
enabled Algeria to consolidate its position as demand has been rising consistently since 2010,
essential gas supplier for Spain and Italy.” and plans for the development of the country’s
The company also stressed, though, that untouched shale gas reserves have not gained
it was not focusing solely on European gas much momentum. ™

A jetty has been been to accommodate TLTC’s FRU and FRU (Image: Helios Investment Partners)

Tema LNG may receive its first cargo soon

GHANA TEMA LNG Terminal Co. (TLTC), the owner its first cargo of LNG under a long-term supply
of a new LNG terminal that has been installed contract with an affiliate of Royal Dutch Shell
at the Ghanaian port of Tema, may be able to (UK/Netherlands). He cautioned, though, that
start commercial operations before the end of the LNG cargo’s arrival date had not yet been
this month. fixed.
The terminal, which consists of a floating “We are waiting for Shell, the supplier, and
regasification unit (FRU) and a separate float- GNPC, as the off-taker, to decide and confirm
ing storage unit (FSU), has yet to come online. the delivery date for their first cargo to arrive at
However, a spokesman for the project told S&P the terminal,” he said.
Global Platts last week that the terminal would The spokesman, who was not named, did not
be “mechanically ready” to take delivery of its reveal the size or price of Tema LNG’s first cargo.
first shipment by the end of March. As of press time, neither Shell nor GNPC had
As such, he said, Ghana National Petroleum divulged any additional information on the tim-
Co. (GNPC) will soon be in a position to import ing of the terminal’s launch.

Week 10 10•March•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P13