Page 8 - DMEA Week 09 2021
P. 8
DMEA FUELS DMEA
Circular ambitions Dazzled by the sun
This week, a deal was announced between Ara- Meanwhile, Prince Abdulaziz added that solar
mco and South Korea’s Hyundai Oilbank which announcements by Riyadh would be forthcom-
will see the Saudi firm export LPG to and reim- ing, noting: “I believe in the next month or so
port CO2. According to its parent firm, Hyun- we’ll dazzle the world with how cheaply we can
dai Oilbank will convert the LPG to hydrogen get our solar electricity”.
for use in desulphurisation facilities and to fuel The Gulf is already home to the world’s cheap-
vehicles. est solar power projects. At launch in late 2019,
Meanwhile, Hyundai Heavy Industries the Kingdom’s 300-MW Sakaka project had the
(HHI) said that the CO2 emitted would be cap- cheapest unit price of just $0.0234 per kWh.
tured and sent back to Saudi Arabia for use in There has since been more aggressive pricing
EOR. for solar, with EDF and JinkoPower last year sub-
The deal expands the idea of the circular car- mitting a price of $0.0135 per kWh for a 1.5-GW
bon economy, which Aramco has been investing solar project in Abu Dhabi. The scale offered by
heavily in, while the company already has strong Saudi projects like the NEOM-related project
ties with HHI. In 2019, it acquired a 17% stake could mean that the Kingdom may pull out a
in Hyundai Oilbank for around $1.25bn, while trump card in the coming months.
the parent is one of two foreign shareholders in
the estimated $5.2bn Aramco-led King Salman
International Maritime Industries Complex
under development at Ras al-Khair on the king-
dom’s east coast.
In addition, Aramco has acquired hydrogen
fuel cell vehicles from Hyundai and Japan’s Toy-
ota over the last 18 months for use in pilot trans-
portation projects.
Petredec expands presence
in South African fuel sector
AFRICA SINGAPORE-BASED LPG trader Petredec has create a balanced portfolio of wholesale, com-
expanded its presence in South Africa’s fuels sec- mercial and retail businesses across the fuel and
tor, acquiring Eastern Cape-focused distributor LPG sector and expand this across South Africa,”
and retailer Quest Petroleum. he said, adding that the company plans to par-
The move is the company’s third liquid fuels ticipate “where there is less infrastructure and
acquisition in the country in the last 18 months where competition is needed”.
and follows the commissioning in October of a Meanwhile, a complex regulatory environ-
ZAR1bn ($67mn) LPG storage facility at Rich- ment has meant that the company has been lim-
ards Bay built in partnership with Bidvest Tank ited in its integration path.
Terminals. Vertical integration in the fuel supply chain is
The company already operates the Petrefuel prohibited by South Africa’s Petroleum Products
and Petregaz subsidiaries in the country. The Act, meaning that companies cannot be both
latter was formed following Petredec’s acquisi- wholesalers and retailers.
tion of a 50% stake in LPG import and whole- Furby clarified: “We don’t actually own the
sale business Camel Fuels in 2019, with a further retail entities.”
24% purchased in September last year. Petregaz “They are owned by third parties, who are
distributes refined products throughout sub-Sa- supplied by us as Petrefuel. We sign an agree-
haran Africa. ment with them for supply, which includes the
Meanwhile, Petrefuel was formed following right to use the Quest brand. In return, we will
Petregaz’s acquisition of wholesale fuel compa- use our expertise to assist the site owner in set-
nies Oilco and Jubane Petroleum. ting up the shop and other services,” he added.
Petredec managing director Lee Furby told While it has already expanded its footprint
local media that the company sees significant in South Africa, Furby noted that the com-
growth potential in the country, despite eco- pany “will continue to grow organically and by
nomic challenges and transport becoming less acquisition”. He added: “Petredec has a strong
fuel intensive. balance sheet and is highly supportive of the SA
“It is all in the strategy. Our intention is to subsidiary.”
P8 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 09 04•March•2021
