Page 12 - Downstream Monitor - MEA Week 28

DMEA
neWs in brief
DMEA
tells us that tOR can still produce and have demand for its products if not for just West Africa, for Central African market as well the product demand is quite huge and almost everything that we consume in West Africa we import, and so if tOR repositions itself well, it should be able to realize it still has
the market,” he told Citi Business News in an interview.
e Executive Director of the Kumasi Institute of technology, Energy and Environment, KItE, Ishmael Egyekumhene could not agree more.
“I cannot see Dangote’s re nery becoming a threat unless they are able to produce at a cheaper price in which case it will just be like their cement business where even though
we have GhACEM, people still buy that produced by Dangote because it is cheaper. So if tOR will be able to survive, then they also need to be very e cient because the Dangote re nery will be a very brand new one whereas for ours, even though there have been a lot of refurbishment and retro tting, has been in existence since 1962,” he intimated.
Presently, the tema Oil Re nery has the capacity to re ne 45,000 barrels of oil per
day which translates into about 16.4 million barrels annually; but it is producing below that capacity, at an estimated 20,000 barrels of oil per day.
Suggestions have been made for the managers to attract investments to turnaround its fortunes to grow the downstream petroleum sector in Ghana.
modern Ghana
Aramco-backed Ratnagiri
refinery may be shifted to
Raigad
e $44 billion re nery and petrochemicals project being implemented by Ratnagiri Re nery and Petrochemicals Ltd (RRPCL) may come up in Roha, a city in Raigad district of Maharashtra, according to two oil company executives aware of the development.
“ e re nery may come up in Roha. e
companies involved have given their consent. e Maharashtra chief minister is likely to make a formal announcement next month,” said one of the o cials cited above.
RRPCL is a joint venture between Saudi Aramco, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc), and three state-run oil marketing companies, Indian Oil Corp. (IOCL), hindustan Petroleum Corp. (hPCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corp. (BPCL). Saudi Aramco and Adnoc will jointly own 50% of the re nery, with the remaining 50% being owned by the Indian oil companies.
e land bank for the project could be around 10,000 acres.
“We are assuming that the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation has secured the land this time and the transfer process would be smooth. e land that has been acquired and is being acquired are di erent pieces of land,” said one of the o cials mentioned above.
IOCL, hPCL, and BPCL did not reply to email queries till press time.
e Ratnagiri re nery project, announced in December 2015, was to be commissioned by 2022, but delays in land acquisition pushed the deadline to 2025.
Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had said in February that his government would relocate the re nery project, following protests by farmers and local landowners who feared the project may damage ora and fauna in the region, and a ect Alphonso mango and cashew plantations.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ally Shiv
Sena had also backed the people opposing
the re nery in the Ratnagiri district. Moving the project out of Ratnagiri was one of the conditions on which the Shiv Sena renewed its alliance with the BJP for the recently held Lok Sabha elections and the Assembly polls in Maharashtra to be held in October.
Raigad is located in the Konkan region of the state and Roha has a big industrial set up with the majority of the industrial units being chemical process industries.
“I think the political parties have come to a consensus that it’s best not to lose a re nery
project of this scale. So, a decision on this is imperative,” said the second o cial cited above.
e pre-feasibility study of the 60 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) re nery has been completed. e re nery will be capable of processing 1.2 million barrels of crude oil and produce 18 million tonnes per annum
of petrochemicals. It will provide direct and indirect employment to up to 150,000 people.
e site of the project has been nalized but it may be announced later in view of the upcoming assembly elections, according to two Maharashtra government o cials. A
top Maharashtra government bureaucrat, however, said on condition of anonymity that Roha hadn’t been nalized “as yet” but added that political factors may have delayed the decision. “Roha is a feasible site in many ways but the chief minister may not want to make that announcement right now as Roha is in Raigad district and some activists had earlier this month opposed the setting up of the project in Raigad, too, a er the matter came up during the recent monsoon session of the state legislature. e chief minister may not want to create a fresh controversy at this stage though many factors do favour Roha,” said the o cial.
LiVe mint
fUeLs
Iran petrol output at 110 ml/d
Iranian President hassan Rouhani said Iran was currently producing 110mn litres of petrol domestically which is an unprecedented gure for the country.
According to President.ir, Dr. Rouhani told an administrative council meeting on Sunday that the country’s petrol output had doubled under his administration since 20013, adding 14 phases of the massive South Pars gas eld had come online under his presidency.
he said massive compressors were imported thanks to the Joint Comprehensive
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Week 28 17•July•2019