Russian Lukoil To Sell Strategic Italian Refinery To Trafigura-Backed Company
Lukoil, Russia’s second-largest oil company has agreed to sell its Italian ISAB refinery to a Cypriot company backed by Geneva-based commodities trader Trafigura.
The deal will see Lukoil’s 100% subsidiary, Litasco S.A., sell the ISAB refinery to Cyprus-based G.O.I. Energy Limited, a private equity firm backed by Trafigura, according to a statement on Lukoil’s website.
The deal value was not disclosed.
According to Lukoil, the transaction is expected to be completed by the end of March 2023 upon fulfillment of “certain conditions precedent including receipt of necessary approvals of competent authorities, particularly the Italian Government”.
ISAB encompasses a large petrochemical complex in Italy, which combines refining, gasification and electricity cogeneration plants.
Cyprus-based G.O.I Energy is run by Israeli Green Oil CEO Michael Bobrov, according to Reuters, while Green Oil holds a major stake in Bazan Group, Israel’s largest refiner.
The deal will allow Western-based Trafigura to handle oil supplies for the Italian refinery, should the Italian government agree to the sale.
ISAB is an important strategic asset for Italy, refining approximately one-fifth of Italy’s crude oil, according to Reuters.
As of December 5th, in line with the European Union ban on Russian seaborne crude, the ISAB refinery is no longer permitted to import Russian oil.
In early December, the Italian government said it was considering direct state intervention to keep the refinery running after December 5th, noting that ISAB had been forced to rely fully on Russian oil because banks halted financing and guarantees for other oil purchases, Reuters reported.
Lukoil also owns a network of some 230 branded gas stations in the United States, distributing in 11 states.
At the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, these gas stations garnered much media attention, with vague calls for boycotts. Those call, however, dissipated by the end of March, when it became clear that boycotting them would harm the American franchise owners.
Source: Oilprice.com
South Africa: Former Eskom CEO Poisoned
A former Chief Executive Officer of Eskom, a struggling South African power utility company, André De Ruyter, has allegedly been poisoned.
De Ruyter is said to have drunk coffee suspected to be laced with cyanide.
Cyanide is a rapidly acting, potentially deadly chemical that can exist in various forms.
It is not yet known who wanted to end De Ruyter’s life, but the report suggests that police in South Africa are investigating the alleged poisoning.
According to a report by theguardian.com, the alleged poisoning of De Ruyter was first reported by the specialist energy publication, EE Business Intelligence, last Saturday.
The report said that De Ruyter drank a cup of coffee suspected to be laced with cyanide.
“De Ruyter became weak, dizzy and confused, shaking uncontrollably and vomiting copiously. He subsequently collapsed, unable to walk,” EEBI said.
“He was rushed to his doctor’s rooms by his security detail, where his condition was diagnosed as cyanide poisoning and treated accordingly. Tests are taken subsequently confirmed massively elevated levels of cyanide in his body.”
André de Ruyter resigned from his post at Eskom on 14th December 2022 after backlash from South Africa’s Minister for Energy and Minerals Resources, Gwede Mantashe, who accused him of sabotaging the government with massive load shedding by Eskom.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
France’s Nuclear Power Output Rises, Easing European Energy Woes
France’s nuclear fleet is coming back online, with Bloomberg estimating that 73% of the country’s 56 reactors were available on Friday. That is significantly more reactors than in recent months, which eases some of the concerns about power supply in France and Europe.
To compare, only 40% of France’s 56 reactors were available in August 2022, when many reactors were under routine or unplanned maintenance, river water levels were low, and temperatures in rivers were too high to be used for reactor cooling.
Low nuclear power availability had been a major issue for the French power system for most of the past year, as more than half of the country’s reactors were offline at one point in the autumn due to repairs or maintenance.
The higher nuclear power availability in France, a major producer of electricity from nuclear energy, eases concerns about power shortages this winter.
France is now more confident about its power supply for the coming weeks compared to a month ago, thanks to reduced consumption and increased nuclear power generation, French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne told local France info radio earlier this week.
“I am more confident over the coming weeks,” France’s PM told the radio when asked about the country’s energy supply.
Last month, Xavier Piechaczyk, the head of grid operator RTE, said that France could face the risk of power cuts this winter when the electricity supply may not be enough to meet demand.
In November, RTE said that the French electricity grid is at higher risk of strained power supplies in January 2023 than previously estimated due to lower nuclear power generation.
Delays in routine maintenance work at France’s nuclear power stations will lead to a slightly lower nuclear availability this winter than expected back in September, the grid operator said. This raises the risk of a power supply crunch in January, RTE said in its latest winter preparedness analysis in November.
Source: Oilprice.com
Zambia: Zesco Extends Load Shedding Time From Six To 12 Hours
Zambia’s power utility company, Zesco, has extended the ongoing power rationing from the initial six hours to 12 hours owing to the reduced water levels in the Kariba Reservoir.
The company announced a six-hour load shedding beginning last Tuesday 3rd January through to 25th January 2023.
However, the company in an update on Wednesday, 4th January, said it had adjusted the load-shedding hours from six hours to 12 hours daily until further notice.
“The Corporation’s ability to meet power demand remains constrained by the drastic reduction in available water in the Kariba Reservoir for electricity generation at the Kariba North Bank Power Station. At present, the power station’s generating capacity has been reduced from its installed 1080MegaWatts (MW) to below 400MW,” reads the statement in parts.
The firm, furthermore, states that the removal of a 150MW generator at Maamba Collieries Limited Power Plant for routine annual maintenance from 4th January until 20th January 2023 has exacerbated the situation.
“ZESCO deeply regrets the inconvenience that will be caused,” the statement reads.
This is the second time in just a few years that Zambia has had to introduce 12-hour daily load-shedding cycles.
Zimbabwe is in the same boat (actually even worse) as the power company there has had to implement 18 to 20 hour load-shedding in 2019 and again from late last year up till now.
Further south, South Africa has also been implementing load-shedding for several hours a day due to frequent breakdowns at its ageing coal power plants.
The Southern African region is facing a serious electricity crisis and needs to start working on some urgent solutions.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
Pakistan Orders Shopping Centres, Markets To Close Early To Conserve Power As Economic Crisis Deepens
Pakistan’s government has ordered shopping centres and markets to close early every day as part of measures to economise energy as the country faces an energy and economic crisis.
A BBC report quoted the country’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif that the measures would save the South Asian nation around 62bn Pakistani rupees ($274.3m; £228.9m).
Pakistan generates most of its power using imported fossil fuels.
The closure of shopping centres and markets earlier than their normal closing hours of the day is expected to reduce their electricity consumption.
In a post shared by the ruling Pakistan Muslim League -N(PML-N) party on Twitter and sighted by energynewsafrica.com, Pakistan intends to ban the production of inefficient electric fans by July this year.
“The federal cabinet has immediately approved the Energy Conservation Plan’s enforcement,” it said.
It said a campaign would be launched in print, electronic and social media to raise awareness of the energy conservation plan.
It further said that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif directed, during the cabinet meeting, to reduce the usage of electricity in all federal departments by 30 per cent.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
ADNOC To Spend $15 Billion On Energy-Transition Projects Over Next Decade
The United Arab Emirates is earmarking $15 billion for energy-transition projects over the rest of the decade as the Middle Eastern oil producer seeks to burnish its green credentials ahead of hosting a key global climate summit.
Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. will make the investments, the government said in a statement on Jan. 5.
The state-owned company will look at international partnerships and carbon capture as part of its expansion of a cleaner-energy unit established last year.
ADNOC said in November that it would boost investments on all energy over the next five years — including oil — to $150 billion.
It plans several announcements over the next several months on its efforts to become greener. So far, its main focus is on cutting emissions and shifting to cleaner energy use at home while still exporting hydrocarbons and products they’re refined into.
Dubai will host the United Nation’s COP28 climate change conference in November and December, drawing heads of state, scientists and business leaders.
The UAE has said that oil-producing countries and companies must be part of the climate change debate and that there should also be discussions about energy security and affordability.
Source: Reuters
Brazil: Petrobras CEO Resigns
The Chief Executive Officer of Petrobras, a Brazilian national oil company, Caio Paes de Andrade, has resigned.
According to a report by Reuters, Andrade’s term of office was expected to expire in April but decided to quit earlier.
His resignation comes shortly after the country’s Mines and Energy Ministry said it would formally appoint Senator Jean-Paul Prates to head the state-run firm after President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva announced it last week.
Andrade was handpicked by former right-wing President, Jair Bolsonaro after three of his predecessors had left, following clashes with Bolsonaro over Petrobras’ fuel pricing policy.
The move paves the way for Prates, a senator from Lula’s left-wing Workers Party, to take the helm before the current management’s tenure ends, though he must still win approval from internal Petrobras committees.
Pirates will need final approval as a board member and subsequently as CEO from the firm’s current board of directors.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
Nigeria: Kaduna Electric Launches Whistle Blower Platforms
Kaduna Electric, one of the power distribution companies in the Republic of Nigeria, has launched whistle-blower platforms where customers can report both staff and customer misdemeanours.
The company, in a statement announcing the initiative, said a dedicated mobile phone number has been provided that customers can call 24/7 to provide vital information that will help arrest nefarious activities of electricity users in their communities.
The statement said that in addition to phone calls, customers can send text messages or write to the company via a dedicated email address to report cases of energy theft, meter bypass and tampering.
The dedicated mobile phone number is 09046207922 through which customers can call or text while the dedicated email address is [email protected].
It added that the platforms could be accessed through the company’s website.
According to the company, customers could report a staff of the company, who is involved in any sort of shady activity such as colluding to defraud the company or extorting money from unsuspecting customers, via the platforms.
The statement further said the whistle-blower platforms are safe and that customers’ privacy and anonymity are fully guaranteed.
He urged the company’s esteemed customers to take advantage of the platform to help improve its electricity supply services in its franchise states.
Customers can also log onto www.kadunaelectric.com to access the whistle-blower link.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
Tesla Delivered Record 1.3 Million Electric Vehicles In 2022
Electric car maker Tesla said it delivered a record 1.3 million vehicles last year, 40% more than in 2021.
But the firm, led by billionaire Elon Musk, fell short of Wall Street sales forecasts for the final months of the year.
The company’s shares sank by more than 12% on Tuesday after the update.
In a statement to investors, Tesla said it had to deal with “significant Covid and supply chain related challenges throughout the year”.
Meanwhile, earlier on Tuesday authorities in South Korea said they would fine Tesla $2.2m (£1.8m) for failing to tell its customers about the shorter driving range of its electric vehicles in low temperatures.
The Korea Fair Trade Commission said the company had exaggerated the “driving ranges of its cars on a single charge, their fuel cost-effectiveness compared to gasoline vehicles as well as the performance of its Superchargers”.
Tesla did not immediately respond to a BBC request for comment.
The slide in the share price on Tuesday wiped more than $50bn (£41bn) off Tesla’s market value, which has long been seen as outsized compared with carmakers like Ford and General Motors, who make more vehicles.
Tesla shares tumbled 65% last year – its worst year since going public in 2010 – as investors worried about disruptions to production, concerns over a slowdown in demand and Mr Musk’s focus on newly acquired Twitter.
The multi-billionaire bought the social media platform at the end of October for $44bn (£36.4bn) and has spent much of his time since then trying to turn the business around even as Tesla faces rising challenges.
Like other car makers, Tesla is grappling with the likelihood of slowing demand for vehicles as customers deal with rising borrowing costs and concerns about an economic slowdown.
Tesla also faces competition from traditional motor manufacturing giants such as Ford and General Motors, as well as newer entrants to the market like Rivian and Lucid in the US and China’s BYD and Nio.
Highlighting the logistics issues faced by the world’s most valuable car maker, deliveries in the fourth quarter of the year were also about 34,000 fewer than Tesla produced.
The shortfall is unusual for Tesla, as it had previously managed to deliver about as many vehicles as it produced.
In October chief executive Musk said he was working to resolve the issue, and pushed back on the idea that demand was hurting.
The company is scheduled to announce financial results for the fourth quarter of 2022 and the year as a whole on 25 January.
Tesla said in a separate statement that it plans to host its Investor Day on 1 March and livestream the event from its Gigafactory in Texas.
“Our investors will be able to see our most advanced production line as well as discuss long term expansion plans, generation 3 platform, capital allocation and other subjects with our leadership team,” the company said.
Source: BBC
Zambia: Load Shedding Hits Zambians In New Year
Zambians will, from today Tuesday 3rd January 2023, start experiencing power rationing across the country, Zesco Limited has announced.
The power utility, in a statement, said the load shedding has become necessary due to the drastic reduction in the water level in the Kariba reservoir.
“As of 31st December 2022, the water level was at 475.60 meters above sea level, a situation that has necessitated the reduction of generation at the 1080MW Power Station facility to below 400MW, thereby affecting the ability to meet the system load/customer power demand, especially during morning and evening peak demand periods,” the company said in a statement.
Zesco further explained that its inability to meet the power demand shall further be compounded by the planned outage of a 150MW generator at Maamba Collieries Limited Power Plant for routine annual maintenance scheduled to take place from the 4th to the 20th of January 2023.
“The compounded generator outage at Maamba Coal Thermal Power Plant, coupled with the critically low water level at Kariba reservoir, will lead to ZESCO carrying out a rotational load shedding exercise which will now commence on Tuesday, 3rd to 25th January 2023,” it said.
The firm, however, stated that to mitigate the effects of load shedding, ZESCO will endeavour to optimise electricity generation at all other power-generating stations to the extent that the integrity and safety of the power system are safeguarded.
“ZESCO will continuously notify its customers and the public on the power availability status through various electronic and print media houses. As a safety precaution, customers are advised to treat all power supply lines to be live, as power may be restored before the scheduled time,” the statement concluded.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
Ghana: OMCs Reduce Fuel Prices Significantly In New Year
Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) in the Republic of Ghana have adjusted their pump prices downward in the New Year, energynewsafrica.com’s checks have revealed.
Currently, a litre of petrol is selling between Gh¢10.99 and Gh¢12.40 while diesel is sold between Gh¢14.60 and Gh¢15.79.
Fuel prices shot up astronomically in October 2022, with diesel being sold at Gh¢23.49 per litre while petrol was sold at Gh¢17.89 per litre.
The increment in fuel prices, which was triggered by the weak Ghanaian cedi against major international currencies and the rise in crude oil prices, pushed prices of goods and services upward.
Fuel consumers lamented the situation due to the unbearable hardships it brought on them.
However, since November 2022, fuel prices have been dropping significantly, bringing a huge relief to consumers.
Checks by energynewsafrica.com revealed that most of the OMCs have adjusted their pump prices as of Tuesday, 3rd January 2023.
Leading Oil Marketing Companies, GOIL, Shell and TotalEnergies are all selling petrol at Gh¢12.40 per litre while diesel is sold at Gh¢14.60 per litre.
Torrid Global is selling both petrol and diesel at the same price as GOIL, TotalEnergies and Shell.
Petrosol is selling diesel at Gh¢11.95 per litre while petrol is being sold at Gh¢14.48 per litre.
Engen is selling petrol at Gh¢12.30 per litre while diesel is sold at Gh¢14.30 per litre.
Star Oil is selling petrol at Gh¢10.99 per litre while diesel is sold at Gh¢13.99 per litre.
Zen Petroleum is selling petrol at Gh12.87 per litre while diesel is sold at Gh15.69.
Alinco Oil is selling petrol at Gh¢11.30 while diesel is being sold at Gh¢14.47
Duke’s Petroleum is selling petrol at Gh¢11.50 per litre while diesel is sold at Gh¢14.95 per litre.
Goodness and Benab Oil are selling petrol at Gh¢ 10.80 per litre while diesel is sold at Gh¢13.85 per litre.
Frimps Oil is selling petrol at Gh10.98 per litre while diesel is sold at Gh¢14.10 per litre.
Pacific is selling petrol at Gh¢12.99 per litre while diesel is sold at Gh¢15.79 per litre.
Puma Energy is selling petrol at Gh¢12.39 per litre while diesel is sold at Gh¢14.99 per litre.
Lucky Oil is selling petrol at Gh¢11.78 per litre while diesel is sold at Gh¢13.85 per litre.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
Nigeria: Power Supply Worse Than When I Was In Office—Former TCN Boss
Nigeria’s power supply challenges have grown from bad to worse in the last three years, a former Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Dr. Usman Mohammed, has argued.
Usman Mohammad who was sacked from TCN by the former Power Sale Mamman said the power supply in Nigeria during his tenure, despite the challenges, was better than it is today.
According to a report filed by ThisDayLive, Usman, who appeared on Channels Television to speak about development in the West African nation’s power sector, asserted that the much-awaited Siemens intervention would not make any marked difference in electricity supply in the country.
Usman described the Siemen deal as a mirage, insisting that the next president must understand the power sector from the day and must be the ‘champion’ of the industry to avoid being taken advantage of by vested interests.
The former TCN CEO noted that while during his involvement in the sector, generation was not a major problem, but today, power generation has declined markedly, explaining that Egbin in Lagos, for instance, which is the largest generation plant in Nigeria, currently does an output of roughly 500 megawatts instead of its usual 1,300 megawatts.
Mohammed stated that Manitoba mismanaged the TCN before he was called upon to take over, stressing that the TCN wasn’t audited for the number of years the company was in charge of the transmission arm, even after over $32 million was paid to them.
“If you look at the picture that is painted of the Presidential Power Initiative (PPI), you will think that it will solve the problem. But I want to ask you, what is the scope, especially for transmission? How many substations, how many lines are they going to build?” he queried.
“How will upgrading in Apo, Katampe and Mafara take you to 7,000 megawatts? It’s not possible,” he added.
He stated that most of the work he started has now been abandoned, explaining that the country is now focusing on the PPI which would not make any much difference in the power supply in the country.
“The sector is worse now than when I left. At that time, the main problems that we were facing were transmission and distribution. We had enough generation at that time,” he argued.
According to him, no investment has come into even the distribution segment of the supply value chain in the country since privatisation, insisting that distribution remains the biggest problem in the country.
Going forward, Mohammed stressed that many of the political parties and presidential candidates angling to take over the country in 2023, do not understand the power sector, affirming that after a thorough appraisal of the manifestos of the major political parties, there was no deep analysis of the sector.
“The conclusion is that most of the political parties don’t even understand the power sector,” he posited.
Mohammed reiterated that the vested interests would not allow the next president ‘think properly’, especially if he doesn’t understand how the sector works and will cloud him from solving the problems besetting the industry.
He stated that the declaration to move the sector from 4,000 megawatts to 25,000 megawatts remains a pipe dream, saying that it wasn’t doable in four years.
“If you talk about these declarations–moving from 4,000mw to 25,000mw—where in history do we see a country move from 4,000mw to 25,000mw in four years?” he asked.
He advised presidential candidates to understand the sector to be able to solve the decades-long challenges in the sector.
In collaboration with the German government, the Siemens deal was planned to expand Nigeria’s electricity capacity to 25,000mw by 2025 under the PPI. However, years down the line, not much has been achieved with roughly five months for the Muhammadu Buhari administration to exit government.
Furthermore, Mohammed argued that the power sector should not have been privatised at the same time but in phases to learn and move forward, stressing that it was a mistake made by the government at the time.
According to him, the government did not carry out an adequate technical losses analysis before selling out the distribution arm of the value chain, as it were in 2013.
He maintained that the next president must not be seen as chasing money in the power sector, because, according to him, that way, progress would not be made.
“So it means that the president will have to believe that he is not looking for money from the power sector because if you’re chasing money in the power sector, you cannot make progress,” he added, stressing that the next president must decide on what to do to rectify the problem created during the privatisation programme.
“For example, I heard that they said they gave orders to the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) to sell some assets quickly. But what are they selling? A company that doesn’t have equity. What is the experience of North-south that bought Abuja Disco? Where is the money they put in?
“We cannot do the same approach we did at that time to solve the problem that we created. The problem we have is a lack of investment in the sector and a lack of managerial capacity. We need companies that have the managerial capacity,” he contended.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
UAE: Fuel Prices Drop In New Year
Fuel prices have been reduced in the United Arab Emirates (UEA) from Sunday, 1st January 2023, energynewsafrica.com can report.
According to the UAE Fuel Price Committee, Super 98 petrol is now sold at Dh2.78 (75 cent) per litre, compared to Dh3.30 (89 cent) per litre in December 2022.
This represents Dh0.52 reduction.
Also, Special 95 petrol is now sold at Dh2.67 (72 cent) per litre compared to Dh3.18 (86 cent) per litre in December 2022. This represents Dh0.51 reduction.
E-Plus 91 petrol is sold at Dh2.59 (70 cent) per litre, compared to Dh3.11(84 cent) a litre last month.
Meanwhile, diesel is sold at Dh3.29 (89 cent) per litre compared to Dh3.74($1.01) in December last year.
Ghana: GOIL Reduces Fuel Prices In New Year
Ghana’s leading indigenous Oil Marketing Company (OMC), GOIL, has adjusted fuel prices downward at the pump across all its retail outlets in the New Year.
A litre of petrol is now sold at Gh¢12.40 while diesel is sold at Gh¢14.60 per litre.
Previously, petrol was selling at Gh¢13.40 per litre while diesel sold at Gh¢15.85 per litre.
This means that the petrol price has been reduced by Gh¢1 while the diesel price has been reduced by Gh¢1.25.
As of Monday afternoon, only GOIL has adjusted pump prices.
Checks by energynewsafrica.com indicate that other OMCs are likely to adjust their pump prices marginally by tomorrow while others are also likely to maintain their pump prices for the last pricing window in December last year.
Currently, Shell and TotalEnergies are all selling petrol at Gh¢13.40 per litre while diesel is sold at Gh¢15.85 per litre.
Petrosol is selling diesel at Gh¢12.79 per litre while petrol is being sold at Gh¢15.49 per litre.
Engen is selling diesel at Gh¢15.60 per litre while petrol is sold at Gh¢13.30 per litre.
Star Oil is selling petrol at Gh¢10.99 per litre while diesel is sold at Gh¢13.99 per litre.
Allied is selling petrol at Gh¢11.35 per litre while diesel is sold at Gh¢14.35 per litre.
Zen petroleum is selling petrol at Gh12.87 per litre while diesel is sold at Gh15.69.
Both Alinco and Goodness are selling petrol at Gh¢11.30 while diesel is being sold at Gh¢14.47
Duke’s petroleum is selling petrol at Gh¢11.50 per litre while diesel is sold at Gh¢14.95 per litre.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com