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has denied that the budget of its Ajaokuta-Ka- societal preferences continue in the way they
duna-Kano (AKK) gas pipeline was inflated by have done in the recent past, oil consumption
$1.53bn. will peak in the early 2020s. According to the
NNPC was responding to an article by Nige- other two scenarios, which assume more aggres-
rian daily Point Blank News on September 7, sive action is taken to curb emissions, the peak is
which said the Bureau for Public Procurement already past, as demand will never fully recover
(BPP) had uncovered evidence of corruption. to the level seen before the pandemic.
NNPC drove up pipe costs for the project from The outlook for gas is markedly better, how-
$513 to $3,000 per metre, it said. ever, supported “by broad-based demand and
These allegations are “false, baseless and the increasingly availability of global supplies,”
unfounded,” NNPC said in a statement, adding according to BP. The major expects demand to
it was considering legal action. The BPP itself has surge by a third over the next three decades in
denied the discovery of graft at the project. the business-as-usual case, but it could slump as Over in Iraq, the
The 614-km AKK pipeline is due to deliver much as a third under BP’s net-zero scenario.
up to 56mn cubic metres per day of gas to power With new CEO Bernard Looney at the helm, government is
plants in the states of Abuja, Kaduna and Kano. BP has embraced the energy transition, more in negotiations
These stations are to be built as part of Nigeria’s so than any of the world’s other leading oil and
programme for expanding the share of gas in its gas companies. But a number of other European with Italian oil
electricity mix. firms have made commitments to bring their
Over in Iraq, the government is in negotiations emissions to zero over the next three decades. major Eni on the
with Italian oil major Eni on the construction of a Polish oil refinery PKN Orlen became the lat-
300,000 bpd refinery in the country’s south-west, est to make a pledge to become emissions-neu- construction of
its oil minister said last week. The plant would be tral by 2050, mirroring similar commitments a 300,000 bpd
supplied with oil from the nearby Zubair field, made by other European oil and gas companies
which Eni operates with a 41.6% stake. over the last year. It unveiled plans on Septem- refinery.
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.
of conflict and financing difficulties. Baghdad PKN is in the processing of acquiring its
wants the Iraqi private sector to step in and take smaller refining rival Lotos and has also signed
a 20% interest in the proposed new plant, as the a preliminary deal to acquire state gas company
government currently lacks the resources to play PGNiG. Earlier it also took over Polish power
a role. utility Energa.
If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping
the downstream sector of Africa and the Middle East, Europe’s oil and gas sector then please click here for
then please click here for NewsBase’s DMEA Monitor. NewsBase’s EurOil Monitor .

Europe: Peak oil demand around the cor- FSU: Rosneft projects take shape
ner? 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 has requested government support for the plan.
forward the decline of fossil fuels. The company is asking for benefits for the Far
The oil and gas major published its Energy East Petroleum Co. (FEPCO) venture, including
Outlook 2020 on September 14, outlining three negative excise duties – effectively subsidies – for
scenarios for global energy demand. Under the naphtha and crude oil feedstock that the pro-
the business-as-usual case, which assumes that ject will consume.
trends in government policies, technology and Rosneft had been trying to advance the

P8 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 37 17•September•2020