Page 14 - AfrOil Week 20 2020

AfrOil PERFORMANCE AfrOil
Egypt’s monthly hydrocarbon surplus narrows by 34% in February
EGYPT
year to 332 toe. The gap between production and consumption was filled by imports, which shrank by 6.2% year on year to 150 toe in Feb- r u a r y. ™
Some of Egypt’s gas comes from offshore fields (Image: SDX Energy)
EGYPT’S monthly hydrocarbon surplus nar- rowed by 34% year on year to 528,000 tonnes of oil equivalent (toe) in February on falling nat- ural gas production and rising consumption, indicated figures released by the monthly infor- mation bulletin prepared by CAPMAS.
Egypt’s hydrocarbon imports, which stood at $11.54bn in fiscal year 2018/2019 – the last full year for which data is available – are a major cause of its trade deficit with the external world and adversely affect the current account deficit, which posted an $8.19bn gap.
Domestic production of hydrocarbons declined for the second month in a row, falling by 8.7% year on year to 6,229 toe in February, underpinned by a 7% year-on-year drop in nat- ural gas output to 3,677 toe, while production of crude oil, condensates and butane gas remained relatively flat at 2,552 toe.
Meanwhile, consumption of natural gas increased by 4.5% year on year to 3,462 toe in February and those of refined petroleum prod- ucts fell by 5% y/y to 2,239 toe.
Moreover, domestic butane gas production marginally increased, growing by 5.8% year on year to 168 toe in February and falling far short of consumption, which dipped by 1% year on
POLICY
Utility executive calls for expanding gas- to-power schemes in Nigeria
NIGERIA
NATURAL gas prices have fallen significantly over the last year, and energy demand is also down as a result of the coronavirus (COVID- 19) pandemic.
Nevertheless, the head of Century Power Generation has urged Nigeria to move forward with plans to expand the use of gas as a fuel for electricity production.
Chukwueloka Umeh, the company’s CEO, told The Guardian last week that recent events highlighted the need for diversification of the Nigerian economy. The country has been dependent on oil revenues for too long and should take steps to realise its potential in other areas, he said.
The gas sector can play an important role in
the diversification process, Umeh commented. “In the face of the cyclic oil prices, we must now see a Nigeria without oil and immediately start diversifying to agriculture and manufacturing,” he said. “In order to do this successfully, the gas and power industries need to be unshackled and supported to encourage substantial private investments and growth.”
He acknowledged that the government had
taken steps in this direction but called for more concrete action with respect to ensuring steady deliveries of electricity to residential and busi-
ness customers. “It is time to do things differ-
ently. We should stop the endless committee meetings, conferences and engagements,” he remarked. 
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 20 20•May•2020