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DMEA: Nigerian graft claims The oil and gas major published its Energy
Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. (NNPC) Outlook 2020 on September 14, outlining three
has denied that the budget of its Ajaokuta-Ka- scenarios for global energy demand. Under the
duna-Kano (AKK) gas pipeline was inflated by business-as-usual case, oil consumption will
$1.53bn. NNPC was responding to an article by peak in the early 2020s. According to the other
Nigerian daily Point Blank News on September two scenarios, which assume more aggressive
7, which said the Bureau for Public Procurement action is taken to curb emissions, the peak is
(BPP) had uncovered evidence of corruption. already past, as demand will never fully recover
NNPC drove up pipe costs for the project from to the level seen before the pandemic.
$513 to $3,000 per metre, it said. The outlook for gas is markedly better, how-
These allegations are “false, baseless and ever, supported “by broad-based demand and
unfounded,” NNPC said in a statement, adding the increasingly availability of global supplies,”
it was considering legal action. The BPP itself has according to BP. The major expects demand to In Iraq, the
denied the discovery of graft at the project. surge by a third over the next three decades in
The 614-km AKK pipeline is due to deliver the business-as-usual case, but it could slump as government is
up to 56mn cubic metres per day of gas to power much as a third under BP’s net-zero scenario.
plants in the states of Abuja, Kaduna and Kano. With new CEO Bernard Looney at the helm, in negotiations
These stations are to be built as part of Nigeria’s BP has embraced the energy transition. But a with Eni on the
programme for expanding the share of gas in its number of other European firms have made
electricity mix. commitments to bring their emissions to zero reconstruction
Over in Iraq, the government is in negotia- over the next three decades.
tions with Italian oil major Eni on the construc- Polish oil refinery PKN Orlen became the lat- of a refinery in
tion of a 300,000 bpd refinery in the country’s est to make a pledge to become emissions-neu-
south-west, its oil minister said last week. The tral by 2050, mirroring similar commitments the country’s
plant would be supplied with oil from the nearby made by other European oil and gas companies south-west.
Zubair field, which Eni operates with a 41.6% over the last year. It unveiled plans on Septem-
stake. Iraq has been looking to build out its refin- ber 9 to invest some PLN25bn ($6.6bn) in clean
ing sector for decades in order to cut down on energy projects by in the next 30 years to reach
fuel imports, but progress has been slow because this goal. PKN is in the processing of acquir-
of conflict and financing difficulties. Baghdad ing its smaller refining rival Lotos and has also
wants the Iraqi private sector to step in and take signed a preliminary deal to acquire state gas
a 20% interest in the proposed new plant, as the company PGNiG. Earlier it also took over Polish
government currently lacks the resources to play power utility Energa.
a role.
If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping
If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping Europe’s oil and gas sector then please click here for
the downstream sector of Africa and the Middle East, NewsBase’s EurOil Monitor.
then please click here for NewsBase’s DMEA Monitor.
FSU: Rosneft projects take shape
Europe: Peak oil demand Russia’s state-owned oil giant Rosneft has revived
BP has warned that oil demand will peak within plans for a major petrochemicals hub in the Rus-
a few years, reflecting the growing belief that the sian Far East, Russian media have reported, and
coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has brought it has requested government support for this
forward the decline of fossil fuels. plan.

Week 3 17•September•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P9