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He noted that while capacity rates had picked up of delays it has already faced.
at the start of the July, climbing to around 93%, There are also concerns that state-owned
they had retreated to 75% as state governments NNPC has given up on its existing three refin-
reintroduced social quarantine measures. The eries and that its talk of finally modernising the
chairman warned that operating rates were not outdated facilities is mere lip service.
expected to return to pre-pandemic levels in the Nigeria has had much more success in devel-
near future. oping small-scale modular refineries, which
The Indian government is struggling to get avoid many of the political and logistical pitfalls
the economy back up and running after failing to that large-scale plants face.
control a second wave of infections. Oxford Eco-
nomics warned last week that economic growth If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping
could stall towards the end of the financial year, the downstream sector of Africa and the Middle East,
after New Delhi’s bid to reopen the economy in then please click here for NewsBase’s DMEA Monitor.
June floundered. While the economy may enjoy
a bump from the central government’s relaxa- European deal-making
tion of quarantine, the global forecasting firm There has been a flurry of new deals announced
warned that the short-term outlook had “turned in Europe over the past week.
more worrisome” and that growth was projected France’s Total has closed the sale of a group
to lose momentum by the end of the year. of UK North Sea assets to Neo Energy, backed
by Norwegian private equity HitecVision. The
If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping transaction was completed on schedule, despite
Asia’s oil and gas sector then please click here for Oman’s Petrogas dropping out as a joint buyer
NewsBase’s AsianOil Monitor. alongside Neo in May. When first announced in
summer 2019, the deal was valued at $635mn.
DMEA: OMV’s petchem push But Total is likely to have received much less after
Austrian oil firm OMV plans to raise €1.5bn renegotiating terms with Neo to account for the
($1.8bn) from a bond sale sometime within the collapse in oil and gas prices this year.
next year to fund the purchase of an extra 39% The French major is on a divestment drive,
stake in plastics maker Borealis. It already has a looking to weed out non-core, lower-margin
36% position at the company, which controls a assets in its portfolio. And it appears to have
key petrochemicals complex in the UAE. fast-tracked disposal plans in response to the
Borealis, through its Borouge joint venture COVID-19 pandemic. Last week it also clinched
with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (ADNOC), a deal to sell the 180,000 bpd Lindsey oil refinery
operates the Ruwais complex in the UAE. in north-east England to a local player, and it is
ADNOC wants to develop the complex into the also reported to be mulling the sale of a North
largest integrated refining and petrochemicals Sea natural gas pipeline.
hub in the world, and OMV is eager to consol- Meanwhile, Norway’s Equinor has agreed to
idate its control over this strategic investment. sell 41% of the Brassay heavy oilfield east of the
Meanwhile, Nigeria is banking on the launch Shetlands to UK producer EnQuest. Like Total,
of its 650,000 barrel per day (bpd) Dangote oil it too is looking to clean up its portfolio, although
refinery early next year to end its reliance on it will retain a further 41% interest in the project.
costly fuel imports and have some supplies spare EnQuest and Equinor both have experience in
for shipment overseas. But as DMEA reports developing heavy crude deposits. By combining
this week, the plant’s completion is more likely their expertise, the partners hope to finally take
in either late 2021 or early 2022, given the string the Brassay project forward after years of delay.

Week 31 05•August•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P7