South Africa’s power utility company, Eskom is making notable progress in the recovery of its operational performance, with the implementation of the Generation Recovery Programme (9-Point Plan) and reliability maintenance recovery (RMR) programme beginning to yield the desired outcome.
Despite the initial challenges posed by COVID-19 lockdown, high levels of maintenance have been sustained with planned maintenance gradually increasing to between 5 500MW and 7 000MW or approximately 12%.
“While there is an improvement on some of aspects of the generation plant due to concerted efforts by Eskom employees, we are not where we want to be in terms of performance. The ultimate aim is to improve performance to reduce the risk of loadshedding. The enormity of this task cannot be overstated,” Eskom Group Chief Executive, André de Ruyter stated.
Owing to the 9-Point Plan, which places correcting new build defects top of the list, the availability and reliability of the synchronised units at Medupi are showing steady improvement. Major defects at Ingula Pumped Storage Scheme have been addressed, resulting in each of the four units performing at the full capacity of 331MW since February 2021, from a maximum 245MW previously. Coal stock levels continue to improve, with average coal stock at 52 days by the end of February, excluding Medupi and Kusile. There is no power station below the Grid Code minimum requirement of 20 days.
The resilience of the power system during heavy rains and the cyclone storm Eloise is a clear indication that the significant investment in the wet coal management strategy is paying dividends. While there also has been significant progress in the reduction of emissions across the Generation fleet, the new minimum emissions standards now in effect, mean there is a lot work still to be done to fully meet compliance levels. This is because some of the electrostatic precipitators on the older facilities are incapable of meeting the new minimum emissions standards.
The Build Programme is progressing well, with Kusile Unit 2 having successfully achieved commercial operation on 29 October 2020, adding 720MW to the national grid. Kusile Unit 3 and Medupi Unit 1 are on track to achieve commercial operation during the next few weeks and months. The addition of Medupi 1 to the grid will bring the number of units in commercial operation at the power station to six, signalling the completion of the construction project.
The Koeberg Nuclear Power Station continues to operate efficiently and within the required safety parameters, and at the lowest primary energy cost of baseload stations. While Unit 1 is currently on a refuelling and maintenance outage, Unit 2 is safely generating electricity to the grid.
Transmission network performance has seen a marked improvement, however ongoing theft and vandalism of infrastructure continues to impact operations, greatly increasing the risk of power supply interruptions to customers. Distribution is also prone to criminal activities and to mitigate this Eskom is embarking on several security enhancement projects and is also working closely with the law enforcement agencies. Network overloading remains an area of great concern. To protect electricity infrastructure in certain high-density areas associated with high illegal connections, Eskom continues to implement load reduction during peak times.
On the people side, critical vacancies at some of the power stations have been filled. There is currently only one vacant General Manager Position as a result of death in service and the process to fill this vacancy alongside that of the Group Executive for Generation is underway. Eskom has recorded a cumulative 4 190 positive COVID-19 cases, including employees and contractors, as at 03 March 2021. Sadly, we have lost 104 employees and contractors to the pandemic. We extend our sincere condolences to the affected families and relatives.
Eskom Chief Operating Officer, Jan Oberholzer, said: “The unreliability of the ageing fleet, with an uncertainty of about 6000MW of capacity at any given time, will remain until the reliability maintenance programme is able to address the historical maintenance backlog. The power system remains vulnerable and volatile with the risk of loadshedding significantly reduced after the completion of the reliability maintenance by September 2021.”
“Recovering the operational performance is our top priority and we will not compromise on reliability maintenance and mid-life refurbishment,” concluded Oberholzer.
Eskom continues to ask South Africans to reduce demand to help to reduce or avoid loadshedding.
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
UK lawmakers are considering a ban on new oil exploration licenses in the North Sea as a move away from fossil fuels.
This is likely to result in job losses as well as impact negatively on the Scottish economy.
Britain is considering options that include ending permits in 2040, and an immediate temporary pause in licensing, the Telegraph newspaper reported. It’s also possible that there will be no changes.
The UK has a target of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, and is increasingly looking to renewables for a greater share of energy.
Oil output from the North Sea has dropped since the turn of the century as fields have got older.
Still, the region is crucial for Scotland’s tax revenue and creating jobs.
Some production from the area also make up the global Brent benchmark pricing.
About 39% of the 270,000 jobs in the UK that the oil industry supports are in Scotland, according to the Telegraph.
The Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP), an energy think tank in the Republic of Ghana has stressed the need for the Government of Ghana (GOG) to effectively manage the energy sector to drive economic growth and development.
ACEP insists that to achieve this goal, government must focus attention on maximizing the opportunities in the energy sector and address the challenges it presents to the economy.
This was made known in a presentation via Zoom by the Policy Lead on Petroleum and Conventional Energy of ACEP, Mr. Kodzo Yaotse, during which he highlighted the issues that required attention and proposed some critical activities for policy direction by government.
Mr. Yaotse insisted that the GOG should make available information regarding excess electricity produced by the various power producing plants in order to be seen as credible and justify the claim that government was paying for the excess electricity generated.
“The government has consistently indicated that it is negotiating PPAs to relieve the country of excess capacity charges. However, there is no transparency around the negotiations of these PPAs.
“The recent US$134 million judgment debt against the government over the termination of the Emergency Power Agreement with Ghana Power Generation Company (GPGC) Limited is only an indication of the poor judgment that has characterized such negotiations,” Mr. Yaotse added.
ACEP therefore asked GOG to prioritize the conversion of single cycle plants, particularly the KTPP and Ameri plants, which were still in the early stages of their lifecycle, to combined cycle plant to improve their production and cost efficiency to reduce consumer tariffs.
In relating the excess capacity burden of Government to her preparedness to encourage renewable energy, ACEP asked GOG to lift the suspension of the issuance of licenses for embedded generation.
Mr. Yaotse therefore observed that, in the interest of climate action and the energy transition, Government should be seen encouraging the penetration of renewable energy instead of hindering it.
On the ongoing debate about Liquified Natural Gas (LNG), Mr. Yaotse insisted that Ghana must optimize its domestic gas and suspend plans to import LNG.
“GNPC should be subjected to strict proof of the identified market that warrants the risks of importing LNG, and that, if by 2022, Ghana is unable to consume the OCTP makeup gas, some people should be held criminally liable for deliberately causing financial loss to the state,” he said.
In terms of power transmission, Mr. Yaotse said the sustainability of GRIDCo depended on a reformed power sector that paid for the investments in the transmission of power. “The fiscal position of government makes it difficult for the budget to continue to sustain investments in the transmission system,” he explained.
The Petroleum and Conventional Energy Policy Lead said, in the short term, some parts of the Energy Sector Levy Act (ESLA) proceeds should be made available for investment in critical equipment in the transmission system, and that ongoing upgrade works should be expedited to relieve power consumers of the frequent outages and low voltage currently being experienced.
Mr. Yaotse also asked GOG to revert to a transparent process to attract private capital into the distribution sector. “If this is not done in the short to medium term, the entire power sector would be in serious distress, unless government is willing to sacrifice other socio-economic investment to continue to unsustainably prop-up the power distribution sector,” he indicated.
In answering some queries from the press after the presentation, the Executive Director of ACEP, Mr. Ben Boakye said, in order for government to take these concerns seriously, there was the need to project the conversation such that it drew the needed attention.
Mr. Boakye therefore charged the media to stage a campaign that would draw attention to the energy concerns in Ghana to guide government prioritize the needful.
Source :Ghana New Agency
Government of Ghana has announced plans to relocate the Ameri Power Plant, currently located at Aboadze, in the western part of the West African nation to Kumasi in the Ashanti Region to help stabilise the national grid.
The Ameri power plant, which is made up of 10 power units, are power plants installed on a deck barge and technically referred to as “floating power plants”.
Presenting the 2021 Budget Statement in Parliament on Friday, Ghana’s Caretaker Finance Minister, Hon. Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu stated that although the country experienced adequate power generation capacity in 2020, this decision to relocate the Ameri Plant along with the completion of other power projects will help stabilise Ghana’s power supply.
“Mr. Speaker, in 2020, the country had adequate generation capacity to meet the demand for domestic, commercial and industrial customer…In 2021, the Ameri Plant will be relocated to Kumasi to help stabilise the national grid”.
According to the Caretaker for the Ministry of Finance, this decision by government will also help address the recent power outages experienced in major parts of the country.
Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu further stated that in addition to the above-stated initiatives, Government has resolved to address the present challenges by completing various transmission line projects to support the national grid.
These projects include, Lot 1 (Kumasi – Kintampo) of the 330kV Kumasi-Bolgatanga Transmission Line Project, which according to Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, is near completion and the A4BSP (Pokuase Bulk Supply Point) that is 92 per cent complete.
The 161kV Volta-Achimota-Mallam Transmission Line Upgrade Project, that also has completion rate of 53 percent for the Volta-Achimota section, and 31 percent completion rate for the Achimota-Mallam transmission line.
The remedial works on the Aboadze-Prestea 330kV Transmission Line is also said to be 90 per cent complete.
Other projects to be pursued by government this year include “the construction of a new substation at Dunkwa-on-Offin, reconstruction of over-aged 161kV transmission lines from Aboadze through Dunkwa to Asawinso with higher capacity, and the reconstruction of the existing 330kV and 161kV Aboadze Switchyards.”
He also informed the House that the 200MW Amandi Power Project is currently at the last phase of commissioning.
“Phase 1A of the 400MW Early Power Project (147MW) is currently going through commissioning,” he added.
Source; www.energynewsafrica.com
Consumers of petrol and diesel in the Republic of Ghana are expected to pay more for the commodity in the coming weeks.
This is because the Government of Ghana has reviewed the Energy Sector Levies Act (ESLA) and introduced two new taxes on the commodity which is expected to see a 5.7 percent jump in the price of petrol and diesel.
This comes at a time when consumers are lamenting over the consistent increases in prices of petrol and diesel.
Presenting the West African nation’s 2021 Budget and Economic Policies of the Government of Ghana in Parliament on Friday, Osei-Kyei Mensah Bonsu, who is Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, said: “Government is proposing a Sanitation and Pollution Levy (SPL) of 10 pesewas on the price per litre of petrol/diesel under the Energy Sector Levies Act (ESLA). Energy Sector Recovery Levy (Delta Fund), Mr. Speaker, it would be recalled that when crude oil prices increased substantially between 2017 and 2018, the government abolished excise taxes and reduced the special petroleum tax from 17.5 percent to 13 percent to mitigate the impact on domestic petroleum prices.”
Kyei- Mensah-Bonsu said: “I should note that on the basis of existing world crude oil prices, the implementation of the two proposed levies for sanitation and pollution, as well as to pay for excess capacity charges, would result in a 5.7 percent increase in petroleum prices at the pump.”
He said the COVID-19 pandemic has caused additional health spending that far exceeds the government’s annual budget for health.
Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said the pandemic has brought unprecedented challenges to the country and that there is the need to provide the requisite resources to address these challenges and fund some major projects of the government.
“Mr. Speaker, it has become very necessary for the government to consider a review of the energy sector levies. The Energy Sector Recovery Levy of 20 pesewas per litre on petrol/diesel under the ESLA is hereby submitted to this House for approval,” he said.
Source: wwww.energynewsafrica.com
The Government of Ghana is hoping to realize an approximately US$886 million as petroleum revenue for 2021.
This is made up of Royalties of US$201.0 million, Carried and Participating Interest of US$524.9 million, Corporate Income Tax of US$158.5 million and Surface Rentals of US$1.30 million.
In accordance with the Petroleum Revenue Management Act (PRMA), the government has proposed to allocate US$283.00 million to Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) for its Equity Financing Cost of US$179.33 million and share of the net Carried and Participating Interest of US$103.67 million.
Additionally, 70 per cent of the Benchmark Revenue of US$602.70 million, which is US$421.89 million, will be set aside for the Annual Budget Funding Amount (ABFA).
The Ghana Petroleum Fund will receive US$180.81 million, being 30 per cent of the Benchmark revenue. Out of this amount US$126.57 million will be allocated to the Ghana Stabilisation Fund and US$54.24 million to the Ghana Heritage Fund.
Presenting the 2021 budget on behalf of the Finance Minister, Majority Leader and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Mr. Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu, disclosed that a total crude oil production of 66.9 million barrels was recorded for 2020, as against 71.4 million barrels realized in 2019.
“As of December 2020, GNPC had lifted twelve parcels of crude oil on behalf of the State and transported 88,418.9 million standard cubic feet of gas to the Ghana National Gas Company (GNGC).”
According to him, total petroleum receipts as at end-December 2020 stood at US$666.4 million, equivalent to GH¢3.8 billion, compared with the receipts of US$937.6 million, equivalent to GH¢4.9 billion recorded in the same period in 2019.
“These receipts were allocated based on the provisions of the PRMA (as amended). In particular, the GNPC was allocated a total of US$198.6 million, made up of Equity Financing Cost of US$154.8 million and its share of the net Carried and Participating Interest of US$43.8 million.”
ABFA received a total of US$273.4 million while the GPFs received US$166.6 million. The Petroleum Funds, he said,” were distributed to the Ghana Stabilisation Fund (GSF) and the Ghana Heritage Fund (GHF) in the ratio of seven is to three, consistent with the PRMA. Thus, the GSF received US$116.6 million while the GHF received US$49.9 million.”
Sourcewww.energynewsafrica.com
The Nigerian Navy will today begin the trial of some its personnel and civilians allegedly involved in crude oil theft.
The Information Officer, Western Naval Command (WNC), Commander Thomas Otuji, said in a statement issued Thursday that the court martial of those arrested in connection with the maritime crimes would begin at 9a.m. today.
The trial will take place at WNC Officers Mess, Naval Base Apapa, Lagos State, according to the statement.
Royal Dutch Shell has revealed that the volume of crude oil spills caused by sabotage in Nigeria’s oil-rich Delta dropped by 40% in 2020 to 1,400 tonnes.
The total number of major spills caused by theft and sabotage also dropped to 122 incidents in 2020 from 156 incidents the previous year, Shell said in its annual report.
Shell is the operator of Nigeria main onshore oil and gas joint venture SPDC which has struggled for years to contain spills in the Delta caused due to operational incidents, theft and sabotage.
Ghana’s power utilities regulator, Public Utility Regulatory Commission (PURC), says it is investigating the recent power outages being experienced in the country.
The commission said it will not hesitate in taking appropriate regulatory action against any utility service provider in the power value chain found noncompliant with regulatory standards and benchmarks.
Several parts of the West Africa nation have been experiencing power outages.
However, the situation was compounded last Sunday when the entire nation was thrown into total darkness.
The country’s power transmission company, GRIDCo, in a statement, explained that its investigation revealed that there was a technical fault on its Prestea-Obuasi transmission lines at about 2:10pm, leading to shutdown of all generating plants at that time.
Reacting to the development, the power utilities regulator, in a statement issued and signed by its Executive Secretary, Mami Dufie Ofori, on Thursday, acknowledged that the outages have been on the increase in the past few weeks.
“The poor service was compounded by the total system collapse that occurred in the transmission network, resulting in a nationwide blackout on Sunday, 7th March, 2021,” the commission noted.
While acknowledging the press release from GRIDCo, ECG, and NEDCo on these incidences, the PURC assured consumers that it is investigating the issue and would take appropriate regulatory action against any utility service provider in the power value chain found noncompliant with regulatory standards and benchmarks.
“The Commission invites affected consumers to submit their complaints to the utility service provider in the first instance, and if not resolved, forward them to the PURC offices in their respective areas for investigation and redress,” the commission concluded.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
Ghana’s newly appointed Minister for Energy, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh has served notice to management of Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) and staff of the refinery that the government will not hesitate in taking action against those whose activity is affecting the growth of the company.
According to him, TOR is a strategic national asset and so the government will keep it and ensure that it grows stronger than it has been.
“TOR is not in a healthy state. And anyone working here…management or ordinary worker who thinks his activity will not lead to the promotion of TOR should find himself a better place to work,” he warned.
Workers of the West African nation’s only refinery, in recent times, have been up in arms with management and Board of the refinery for failing to manage the refinery efficiently.
They accused management of failing to turn the refinery around to bring improvement in their working condition.
In view of this, they demanded the removal of the board and some of the management whose actions, they claimed, are affecting the progress of the refinery.
Addressing management and staff of the refinery at a durbar on Thursday, Dr Matthew Opoku conscientised staff of the refinery that it is not their duty to tell who manages the refinery and who does not.
“It is not the duty of the workers to tell who manages TOR. It is the duty of management of TOR to ensure that TOR grows to become a profitable and healthy entity. And if they are not up to it, then, the owner, which is the Government of Ghana, will do everything possible to bring the necessary changes,” he stated.
The Energy Minister told the gathering that President Akufo-Addo’s vision is to see TOR being run so efficiently to become the premier refinery that is able to export refined product to other African countries.
Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, who pledged the commitment of the government to ensuring that the refinery gets a partner, indicated the government’s resolve to remove those who would be a stumbling block.
The Energy Minister was accompanied by Chief Director of the Ministry, Mr. Lawrence Apaalse, Kwasi Adjei (Accountant of the Ministry), Ernest Wiafe (Internal Auditor of the Ministry),Benjamin Asante (Director for Upstream at the Energy Ministry), Lawrence Lartey and other officials of the ministry.
The Managing Director for Tema Oil Refinery, Mr. Francis. A.T Boateng thanked the Minister for choosing TOR as the first SOE to be visited.
The TOR MD, who described the visit by the Minister to the refinery as both an honour and privilege, said the Energy Minister’s visit emphasised his commitment to helping bring TOR back to life, a promise he gave during his vetting.
Mr Francis Boateng, Managing Director of TOR
Mr. Francis Boateng lauded the Minister for the immeasurable role he played in ensuring that funds were made available to TOR for the purpose of completing and commissioning the second furnace to replace the one which exploded in January 2017.
The TOR MD further thanked the Ministry of Finance and SIGA for their support to Tema Oil Refinery.
He said the completion of the furnace project would return TOR to its nameplate capacity of 45,000 barrels per stream daily, thus, doubling the refinery’s revenue generation potential.
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
OPEC said on Thursday a recovery in oil demand will be focused on the second half of the year as the impact of the pandemic lingers as a headwind for the group and its allies in supporting the market.
In a monthly report, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said demand will rise by 5.89 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2021, or 6.5%, up slightly from last month. But the group cut its forecasts for the first half.
“Total oil demand is foreseen to reach 96.3 million bpd with most consumption appearing in the second half,” OPEC said in the report.
“This year’s demand growth will not be able to compensate for the major shortfall from 2020 as mobility is forecast to remain impaired throughout 2021.”
The latest forecasts could bolster cautious views among OPEC and its allies, known as OPEC+, on how quickly to unwind more of last year’s record oil output cuts. OPEC+ last week decided to mostly extend current curbs into April.
Oil held onto most of an earlier gain after the report was released, trading close to $69 a barrel. Prices have risen to pre-pandemic highs this month, boosted by hopes of economic recovery and OPEC+ supply restraint.
OPEC raised its forecast of world economic growth this year to 5.1% from 4.8% as activity accelerates by the end of the first half. Still, it sees the mobility restrictions continuing to dampen oil demand, despite faster growth.
“Oil-intensive sectors, especially travel and transportation, will remain disproportionately affected, with a larger negative impact on 2020 oil demand and a lower positive contribution to 2021 oil demand, relative to global economic growth,” OPEC said.
The report also showed lower OPEC oil output in February as most OPEC+ members returned to output restraint and Saudi Arabia pledged a voluntary cut of 1 million bpd for February and March.
OPEC said its February output fell by 650,000 bpd to 24.85 million bpd, driven by the Saudi move. Riyadh told OPEC it made almost all of the reduction, lowering production by 956,000 bpd to 8.147 million bpd.
Saudi Arabia as part of last week’s OPEC+ decision extended the voluntary cut into April.
OPEC+ cut supply by a record 9.7 million bpd last year to support the market as demand collapsed. The producers as of February were still withholding about 8.1 million bpd.
While those curbs persist, rivals are boosting supply and OPEC raised its forecast of non-OPEC output growth to almost 1 million bpd led by Canada, the United States, Norway and Brazil – although U.S. shale output is still expected to drop.
Partly due to the higher non-OPEC supply forecast, OPEC trimmed its estimate of global demand for its crude to 27.3 million bpd this year. This would still allow for higher average OPEC production in 2021.
Source: Reuters
Ghana’s newly appointed Minister for Energy, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, has charged the power sector players to identify the causes of the frequent power outages and resolve them as soon as possible.
He gave the charge when he received officials from three power sector players namely; Ghana Grid Company, Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and Volta River Authority (VRA).
Ghanaians have been experiencing intermittent electricity supply due to some challenges in the transmission sector.
The West African nation was thrown into total blackout after GRIDCo’s Prestea–Obuasi transmission line tripped, causing all the power plants to shutdown.
In a Facebook post sighted by energynewsafrica.com, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh indicated that officials of GRIDCo, ECG and VRA have assured him of their resolve to resolve all the technical issues in order for the country to enjoy stability in electricity supply.
“Constant electricity supply is crucial for our daily activities and economic growth. I have requested that these key institutions in charge of electricity identify the causes of the frequent outages and nip them in the bud. The Energy Ministry is ready to support them to resolve this issue as soon as possible.
“In relying on the technical expertise of our power generators, transmitters and distributors, I entreat all Ghanaians to be patient as the issues are promptly resolved,’’ his post read.
The South African Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) has announced the merger of Central Energy Fund (CEF) subsidiaries iGas, PetroSA and the Strategic Fuel Fund (SFF).
The merger will be effective from 1 April 2021 and the new company will be called the South African National Petroleum Company.
The merger, driven by the pursuit of implementing a new company that has a streamlined operating model via the development of a shared services system and a common information platform, comes a few months after cabinet approval and the confirmation that PetroSA had incurred losses of R20 billion since 2014.
Additional factors which prompted the move included the determination to strengthen PetroSA which had not had a permanent CEO in five years prior to the appointment of CEO Ishmael Poolo last and, had become majorly ungainful since its failure to secure gas for the gas-to-liquids refinery project in Mossel Bay.
While the merger deadline has been set, the portfolio committee expressed reservations to the department’s likelihood of meeting the deadline, considering the existing legislative regime, pending issues raised in the SFF and PetroSA forensic reports, as well as PetroSA’s current insolvency and liquidity challenges, the official on the briefing revealed.
“South Africa’s energy sector is entering a new dawn,” said NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the African Energy Chamber. “With gas discoveries off the coast and the announcement of the REIPPP programme bid window 5 and 6 on the horizon, now is the most opportune time for the merger of the CEF subsidiaries. Of course, it is not an easy task and delays may be anticipated but, this move signals a real change towards a meaningful strategy that will not only be beneficial to the DMRE but to potential investors and local development as well.”
The African Energy Chamber welcomes this move and acknowledges that this is yet another step supporting the country’s determination to restarting the engines of sustainable growth and the transformation of energy policy and infrastructure.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
Saudi Arabia will take the necessary measures to keep its oil resources and facilities safe and ensure the security of global oil supply, the Kingdom’s Foreign Minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, said on Wednesday, after the latest attacks on Saudi oil infrastructure.
On Sunday, Yemen’s Houthi rebels said they had fired 14 drones and eight ballistic missiles at oil facilities at the Saudi port of Ras Tanura and military targets in three other Saudi cities.
Oil prices spiked early on Monday as markets opened. For a brief period on Monday, Brent Crude prices jumped above the $70 per barrel mark for the first time since January 2020, but reversed gains after it became clear that there would be no disruption to supply from the world’s largest oil exporter.
Since 2015, Saudi Arabia and Iran have been essentially fighting a proxy war in Yemen, where the Saudis lead a military Arab coalition to “restore legitimacy” in the country, while the Houthi movement, which holds the capital Sanaa, is backed by Iran.
“The failed attempts to target the port of Ras Tanura do not only target the security of the economy and Saudi Arabia. They target the global economy and its oil supplies and the global energy security,” Prince Faisal bin Farhan said at a news conference with visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
“The kingdom will take necessary and deterrent measures to protect its national resources to preserve global energy security and stop the terrorist attacks to ensure stability of energy supplies and security of petroleum exports,” Prince Faisal bin Farhan said.
According to the Saudi foreign minister, Iran is supplying the Houthi movement with drones and ballistic missiles.
Saudi Ambassador to the U.S., Princess Reema Bandar Al Saud, described in a statement Sunday’s attacks as “egregious terrorist attacks carried out by Iranian-backed militias against Saudi Arabia, calling them a threat to innocent civilians and an assault on global energy security.”
Source:Oilprice.com
The Energy Minister was accompanied by Chief Director of the Ministry, Mr. Lawrence Apaalse, Kwasi Adjei (Accountant of the Ministry), Ernest Wiafe (Internal Auditor of the Ministry),Benjamin Asante (Director for Upstream at the Energy Ministry), Lawrence Lartey and other officials of the ministry.
The Managing Director for Tema Oil Refinery, Mr. Francis. A.T Boateng thanked the Minister for choosing TOR as the first SOE to be visited.
The TOR MD, who described the visit by the Minister to the refinery as both an honour and privilege, said the Energy Minister’s visit emphasised his commitment to helping bring TOR back to life, a promise he gave during his vetting.
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
