Page 14 - DMEA Week 05 2022

DMEA NEWS IN BRIEF DMEA

Industries and look forward to building a per cent of the repair of the two Port Harcourt working, they will continue to operate at a loss
long-standing partnership with the company, refineries before leaving office while the ones unless subsidy payment and price regulation
aimed at reducing its carbon emissions whilst at Warri and Kaduna would take much longer. stops.
diversifying energy supply,” he commented. Sylva said, “We agreed from the very ECONOMIC CONFIDENTIAL
“This marks our second and final industrial beginning that the completion date will
contract from Phase One,” he added. The overflow into the next administration but we Moroccan workers facing
company signed its first industrial LNG agreed that there are milestones. We expect
supply contract for Phase One with Consol that by the end of this year, in Port Harcourt, refinery closure mount
Glass, another South African firm, in August we expect to achieve at least 60 per cent of the
of last year. capacity production from Port Harcourt. protest
Renergen is leading the Victoria gas “We are hoping that by the end of next
project, which encompasses the development year, the rehabilitation will have been About 250 workers from the Samir oil refinery
of natural gas fields near Welkom, Virginia completed. Of course, Warri and Kaduna in Morocco marched to their company
and Theunissen in Free State. It has been started after Port Harcourt refineries and of headquarters to protest the planned closure of
focusing on CNG production but will shift to course, it is going to progress at a slower pace. their workplace.
LNG once the first phase of its gas liquefaction “But I believe that at the end of the year, The refinery used to employ over 1,000
plant comes online. Some of the Phase all the refineries – Port Harcourt, Warri workers, with another 5,000 others depending
One LNG will go to Renergen’s industrial and Kaduna – will be operating at a certain on the refinery for their jobs.
consumers, while some will be sold to a local capacity. I cannot tell you what capacity it will The Trade Union Council of Conféderation
subsidiary of TotalEnergies (France) for use as be operating by the time we leave but they Démocratique du Travail union is limiting
long-haul trucking fuel. will all be at least partially functional and we the workers’ demands to calling on the
Meanwhile, the company is also planning expect that since governance is a continuum, government to “save what can be saved,” in
to bring the LNG plant’s second stage on the next government will take up from the words of Al-Hussein Al-Yamani, general
stream in 2023 or later. Phase Two will include wherever we stop and get it to the finishing secretary of Syndicat National des Industries
a helium unit, as the Victoria fields contain line.” du Pétrole & Gaz Naturel.
unusually high volumes of the inert gas. The minister maintained that subsidy WSWS
Sproule, an international energy consulting removal was the best way to attract
firm, estimates that these sites may hold as investments into the oil sector and fight
much as 9.74bn cubic metres of helium, or petrol theft but said Buhari wanted to protect FUELS
more than the total proven reserves of North Nigerians who were already suffering.
America. Sylva stated, “We are still very much NLNG hailed for directing all
NEWSBASE committed to subsidy removal. It is just the
timing that we are saying ok. Let us re-jig LPG production to domestic
the timing. If it was six months, let us be
REFINING given a longer time. Every other aspect of the market
Petroleum Industry Act is moving on.”
Buhari won’t fix refineries, N3tn petrol subsidy budget for 2022. The Nigeria LP Gas Association (NLPGA) has
The minister described as unfortunate the
hailed the Nigeria LNG (NLNG) consortium
passes buck to achieve more important things that would for its decision to direct all of its LPG
He said the money could have been used
production to the domestic market.
The administration of President Muhammadu have a direct impact on the lives of Nigerians. In a statement, NLPGA president and
Buhari will not be able to complete the “Look at it. N3tn is budgeted. You can executive council head Nuhu Yakubu said he
repairs of the comatose refineries and will be imagine if this N3tn was budgeted for expected this move to help ensure Nigerian
expecting the next government to continue something else. Do you know what that consumers’ access to LPG supplies. “In
with it. means for the country? Who is going to recent months past, Nigerians have had
The Minister of State for Petroleum benefit from this?” he asked. to pay significantly more to buy cooking
Resources, Timipre Sylva, said this on Tuesday Sylva said in countries like Kuwait and gas owing to supply disruptions,” he said.
on NTA’s Good Morning Nigeria programme. Saudi Arabia, the petrol subsidy had been “This supply intervention move by NLNG is
The minister said he was hopeful that the scrapped. expected to free up more volumes and have
Buhari regime would be able to complete 60 He argued that even when the refineries are some cushioning effect on the high price of

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