Page 14 - AfrOil Week 38

AfrOil POLICY AfrOil

Algeria may have 20 tcm or more of gas in unconventional fields (Image: Repsol)
The US Energy Administration Information hydrocarbon sector.
Agency (EIA) has put the country’s recov- The North African state is already heav-
erable shale gas reserves at 20 tcm, and the ily dependent on oil and gas. The industry
International Energy Agency (IEA) expects accounted for no less than 96% of its exports,
unconventional fields to account for about a as well as 43% of tax revenues and 21% of GDP,
third of Algeria’s gas output by 2040. between 2004 and 2018.
Abdelmadjid Tebboune, the president of As a result, Algiers is keen to reverse the long-
Algeria, has made his support of proposals term decline in gas exports. According to official
for exploring and developing these reserves data, annual gas export volumes are set to reach
clear. He has pointed out that shale fields have 45bn cubic metres in 2020, down from 64 bcm
the potential to help the country increase in 2005, and will then decline further to 26 bcm
gas exports and earn more revenue from the by 2025. ™

PROJECTS & COMPANIES
Waltersmith to launch modular

refinery in Imo state next month

NIGERIA NIGERIA’S Waltersmith has finished its 5,000 current administration. The NCDMB’s secre-
barrel per day (bpd) modular oil refinery at tary, Simbi Kesiye Wabote, noted it would create
the Ibigwe oilfield in Imo State, and opera- local employment.
tions should start on October 14, the Nigerian “This vision contributes to the realisation of
Content Development and Monitoring Board our 70% Nigerian content target in the oil and
(NCDMB) said this week. gas sector by 2027,” Wabote said. “Our partner-
NCDMB acquired a 30% in the project, ship with Waltersmith and other similar invest-
which will initially produce diesel, in June 2018 ments are some of the levers we are using to
for $10mn. Construction began in October of deliver the target growth rate.”
that year. Despite its ample oil supply, Nigeria is reliant
Once the refinery is launched, its products on fuel imports as its large state-owned refiner-
will be loaded onto 23 trucks daily and delivered ies are fallen into disrepair. The country’s reli-
to firms under agreed off-take contracts, the ance on overseas fuel has led to comparatively
NCDMB said. The plant is due to be expanded high costs for motorists, and has been a drag on
to 50,000 bpd at a later stage. its economy.
Nigerian Minister of Information and Cul- Private conglomerate Dangote is building a
ture Lai Mohammed took a tour around the 650,000 bpd grassroots refinery, but the govern-
facility on September 15, highlighting the pro- ment has also pointed to small-scale, modular
ject and others like it as key achievements of the processing plants as a solution.

P14 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 38 23•September•2020