AG. “Latin America is a strategically important region for Foster Wheeler, and is a region where we already have a very strong track record in winning and successfully executing large, complex projects.”
Museveni Proposes South Sudan Pipeline Through Uganda Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni would like the proposed pipeline from South Sudan to the Kenyan port of Lamu to pass through Uganda. Uganda’s Daily Monitor cited Museveni as telling Kenya’s VP Raila Odinga that he understood Kenya’s position since the newly-independent South Sudan is in urgent need of a functional oil pipeline within one and a half years. If the pipeline passes through Uganda it would give the East African country a potential outlet for its own oil production, which is expected to come online in the next year or so. Uganda had hoped to jointly construct a pipeline with South Sudan, an idea brought to the forefront by Total CEO Christophe de Margerie. Museveni’s hope is to use Uganda’s planned oil refinery to process crude from South Sudan and then export it to the West via Port Mombasa in Kenya. The Daily Monitor also said that Museveni had earlier advised South Sudan to build its own refinery rather than having its crude oil refined in Kenya as that would create jobs for South Sudan, and that he was surprised by Juba’s deal with Kenya that will have the oil resource refined there.
Engen Makes Cleaner 50ppm Diesel Available at All 1-Stops Engen Petroleum is making ultra-low sulphur diesel available to its entire 1-Stop network of long-haul service stations. The company has 45 long-haul service stations. Pierr Roodt, retail marketing manager for the company, said that despite several constraints on the supply of 50 parts-per-million (50ppm) diesel, Engen has made sure customers driving new diesel vehicles can get it when travelling longer distances. “We have tried to ensure that our customers do not run into difficulty in situations when their choices are fewer,” Roodt said. Engen has a range of plans to overcome supply restrictions. “We have made supply arrangements to ensure the availability of the fuel in the inland [PWV] region.” Engen imports 50ppm diesel and then transports it with bulk fuel trucks and ships along a distribution network front-ended by regional
depots, from where Engen and contracting suppliers transport it to various locations using bulk fuel trucks. “Depot capacity remains challenging, particularly the larger depots of Wentworth in Durban, Milnerton in Cape Town, and Langlaagte in Gauteng,” says Roodt, “but Engen is unlocking more storage for 50ppm diesel by reconfiguring existing depot tanks and lines.” Roodt says with these factors at play, demand is likely to escalate, which will exert pressure on suppliers and infrastructure. “We will continue to investigate new supply chain solutions to overcome any problems and ensure we are meeting demand,” he says.
Mercuria Looking for Saldanha Bay Partner Mercuria Energy Group is looking for a partner to run an oil storage tank in South Africa when it renews the leasing contract, according to market sources quoted in a Reuters report. The company leases one of the six tanks at Saldanha Bay under a contract with the statecontrolled Strategic Fuel Fund (SFF). The contract expires later this year. The tank has capacity to store up to seven million barrels of crude oil. “Mercuria is using the site mainly for blending. Storage is tough now with backwardation in the market. So they want to renew the contract with somebody,” one of the sources said in the report.
Ghana Promotes LPG Usage
Egypt’s Pipeline Explodes Again
The Ghanaian government is encouraging its citizens to increase their usage of LPG once the fuel becomes more readily available in the country. Currently a gas processing plant is being constructed to produce LPG. The government expects the plant to be online in 2013.
Reports out of Egypt have it that its pipeline supplying natural gas to Jordan and Israel has been hit yet again. On March 5 six gunmen in an unmarked vehicle allegedly set explosives in two different parts of the pipeline, about 15 meters apart, according to an official quoted in an AFP report.
The Ministry of Energy has formulated a strategy to promote the use of LPG in domestic and public institutions. Dr. Joe Oteng Adjei, Ghana’s minister of petroleum, is aiming to have LPG usage increase from its current level of 12% in domestic and public institutions to 50%. The initiative is expected to commence in 2013 when the gas processing plant to process natural gas from the Jubilee Field becomes operational.
The latest blast marks the thirteenth time the pipeline has been sabotaged since the fall of President Hosni Mubarak early last year. Each time a blast occurs the ruling military council has stated they would step-up security efforts, but so far any effort has been ineffective. The pipeline has been shut-in on and off over the past year to allow for repairs.
Yemen LNG Blast
South Sudan to Export Crude by Truck
A pipeline explosion caused the closure of the Total-run Yemen LNG terminal. Reports have gunmen blowing up a 38-inch gas pipeline that feeds the facility. The pipeline links Yemen’s Block 18 to the LNG terminal at Balhaf on the Gulf of Aden.
South Sudan is lining up its plan to get its oil production flowing again through pipelines to ports in Kenya and Djibouti. As a temporary measure, until the pipelines are complete, the government plans to ship crude for export by truck.
The explosion on the feed pipe is expected to eliminate about four cargos from the export schedule. This is the second explosion seen at the LNG terminal since October 2011.
Toward that end South Sudan plans to build a temporary underwater oil pipeline along the Nile River. The pipeline would extend from oilfields to the capital Juba where the crude would be transferred to trucks and taken on to Kenya and Djibouti, South Sudan’s Minister of Petroleum and Mining Stephen Dhieu Dau told Reuters. While this measure would only ensure a small portion of the country’s production made it to market, about one-tenth, it would aid in adding some revenue to the country’s depleted budget. 30,000 bpd of crude would be delivered to ports under the project, which could be completed by the end of the year, Dau said to Reuters. Prior to shutting-in all its production South Sudan was producing around 350,000 bpd.
The latest incident was thought to be in retaliation for a US drone attack that killed at least five suspected al Qaeda militants earlier. “Yemen LNG confirms the sabotage,” said Yemen LNG, which is run by France’s Total, in a statement. “Production has stopped but the loss of production is expected to be limited to four cargoes as the LNG plant was due to shut down on April 15 for annual maintenance.”
Petroleum Africa April 2012
17