Hundreds Dead, Injured As Fighting Escalates In Oil-Rich Libya

Libya fighter Since eastern strongman General Khalifa Haftar ordered his self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) to march on Tripoli, almost 180 people have died and 800 others have been wounded in the latest escalation of violence in one of OPEC’s most volatile member states. Nearly two weeks ago troops loyal to General Haftar started advancing westward on Libya’s capital Tripoli and clashed with troops of the UN-backed government in a renewed confrontation that could escalate and threaten to disrupt, once again, Libya’s oil production and exports. The flare-up of hostilities helped to drive oil prices last week to their highest in five months amid fears that the renewed fighting may impact Libya’s oil industry. Also last week, the chairman of Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC), Mustafa Sanalla, told the Financial Times in an interview that Libya’s oil production is under threat from the renewed fighting and the situation could become as bad as it was during the 2011 civil war. “I am afraid the situation could be much worse than 2011 because of the size of forces now involved,” Sanalla told the FT, adding “Unless the problem is solved very quickly, I am afraid this will affect our operations, and soon we will not be able to produce oil or gas.” Clashes between Haftar’s LNA and troops of the UN-backed government of national accord (GNA) continued on Tuesday and Wednesday, while the UN Security Council is debating whether to adopt a resolution drafted by the UK and demanding a ceasefire in Libya. Ghassan Salame, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the UN Support Mission in Libya, tweeted on Wednesday: “Horrible night of random shelling of residential areas. For the sake of 3 million civilians living in Greater Tripoli, these attacks should stop. NOW!” “I am deeply concerned about the escalation of violence in Libya in the context of the resurging conflict,” Fatou Bensouda, Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), said in a statement on Tuesday. The escalation of violence increases the risk of an oil supply outage in Libya, despite the fact that the key oil fields and oil exporting terminals are far from the capital Tripoli. The higher risk of further tightening of global oil supplies on top of OPEC’s cuts and U.S. sanctions on Iran and Venezuela has pushed up oil prices over the past week. Source: Oilprice.com

Prepare For Atuabo Gas Plant CDB Loan Repayment – Edward Bawa To Gov’t

Edward Bawa, Member of Mines and Energy Committee of Parliament The Parliamentary Select Committee on Mines and Energy has commended the Ghana Gas company for undertaking an expansion exercise to enable it process more gas by 2024 for both power generation plants and private businesses. The expansion plan has already resulted in the supply of 5.7 million standard cubic feet of gas per day to two companies in the Ashiem Free-Zones enclave in the Shama district. Members of the Committee made the commendation when they visited the Atuabo gas processing plant. A Member of the Committee, Edward Bawa who agrees with the expansion project, however, urged government to begin to make provision for repayment of the nearly one-billion CDB loan secured to build the plant before payment kicks-in. “Basically, if Ghana Gas would have to expand, then Central government would have to take a decision as to how they are going to do that. Ghana Gas must also realize that their operations must also service the nearly one-billion CDB loan that was taken to build the Atuabo plant. This is supposed to be a self-sustaining project to pay that loan through its operations. So if government is so minded that this is a critical thing to do, then they must come in.” Parliament is on recess, but the Committee on Mines and Energy which has oversight responsibilities on the operations of Ghana Gas decided to visit the Atuabo Gas Processing plant to update itself on the operational state of the plant. Although the committee expressed disappointment that the Chief Executive of Ghana Gas was not present to answer their questions, the General Manager of Ghana Gas Operations, Ing. Robert Lartey who took the committee members on a tour of the facility said the company has chalked some successes despite its humble start.“We have laid a very good foundation for any industry that is interested in doing business with Ghana Gas to easily offtake reliable supply of Gas at any time. As we are speaking currently, we have a gas pipeline from Abaodze to a free-zone enclave at Ashiem in the Shama District called Wanka Ceramics which is taking lean gas from us. We also have Twyford that is also taking gas. At the Prestea corridor, we are undertaking a massive infrastructural expansion activity over there and hopefully by June this year we should have another private company that will be ready take gas for power generation.” Engineer Lartey told the committee that Ghana Gas is doing all that in preparation to receive and process more gas from the Aker project by 2024.“We are looking forward to expansion activity work on the Gas processing plant at Atuabo from the existing capacity of 150 to 220 million standard cubic feet of gas per day,” he added. The Deputy Chairman of the Mines and Energy Committee, George Mireku Duker and a Ranking Member of the Committee, Adams Mutawakilu while expressing satisfaction with Ghana gas work progress and expansion plan, assured of its support.Hon. Mireku DukerOn operational Health and Safety, Ghana Gas says it has achieved 16 million man-hours operational time without any fatality or accident and set to continue in this direction to guarantee regular supply of gas to power private businesses and generation of electricity. Source: Citinewsroom.com

Solar to power Dubai’s desalination plants

The cost of water production is set to be reduced, thanks to the region’s efforts to integrate renewable energy into water desalination processes. The region is dependent on desalination for its potable water, and has a total water production capacity of 470 million gallons per day (MIGD), but the process is energy-intensive. The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) is planning to power the region’s desalination plants with solar power, and save approximately $13 billion between now, and 2030, with a capacity target of 305 million gallons per day. “Dubai is pushing for increased efficiency in the production of water. We are already in the final stages of a large scale integration of renewable energy in our water production processes,” said Jamal Shaheen Al Hammadi, vice president of Clean Energy & Diversification Business Development & Excellence at DEWA. “Photovoltaic reverse osmosis will now become the new trend as we aim for 100% renewable energy desalination in Dubai. This supports our efforts to boost water production in the emirate.” DEWA received five bids from Cranmore Partners from the UAE and UK; Synergy from India and the USA; Deloitte from the USA; PricewaterhouseCoopers from the UK, and Ernst & Young from the UK. “DEWA intends to desalinate all its water powered by a mix of clean energy that uses environmentally sustainable energy by 2030. This means Dubai will exceed global targets for using clean energy to desalinate water,” said Al Hammadi. Desalination plant operating on solar power In 2016, Suez, (now ENGIE) launched a pilot 100 cubic meters per day desalination plant in Ghantoot, Abu Dhabi, as part of the utility’s drive to incorporate newer technologies. “The plant has been successfully tested to run 100% on solar power. This is an important step towards achieving our goals and a major breakthrough in the region’s desalination,” according to Pierre Pauliac, Middle East chief executive for Suez (ENGIE). “There is no longer any doubt we can now run a desalination plant on solar power. Our next step now is to take these findings and apply them to industrial scale desalination. “I am very optimistic that in the next eighteen months we will have solar panels powering large scale desalination plants because we have tried it and it will work.” Dubai expects more than 8% of its total power to be generated from clean energy by 2020.

Solar to power Dubai’s desalination plants

The cost of water production is set to be reduced, thanks to the region’s efforts to integrate renewable energy into water desalination processes. The region is dependent on desalination for its potable water, and has a total water production capacity of 470 million gallons per day (MIGD), but the process is energy-intensive. The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) is planning to power the region’s desalination plants with solar power, and save approximately $13 billion between now, and 2030, with a capacity target of 305 million gallons per day. “Dubai is pushing for increased efficiency in the production of water. We are already in the final stages of a large scale integration of renewable energy in our water production processes,” said Jamal Shaheen Al Hammadi, vice president of Clean Energy & Diversification Business Development & Excellence at DEWA. “Photovoltaic reverse osmosis will now become the new trend as we aim for 100% renewable energy desalination in Dubai. This supports our efforts to boost water production in the emirate.” DEWA received five bids from Cranmore Partners from the UAE and UK; Synergy from India and the USA; Deloitte from the USA; PricewaterhouseCoopers from the UK, and Ernst & Young from the UK. “DEWA intends to desalinate all its water powered by a mix of clean energy that uses environmentally sustainable energy by 2030. This means Dubai will exceed global targets for using clean energy to desalinate water,” said Al Hammadi. Desalination plant operating on solar power In 2016, Suez, (now ENGIE) launched a pilot 100 cubic meters per day desalination plant in Ghantoot, Abu Dhabi, as part of the utility’s drive to incorporate newer technologies. “The plant has been successfully tested to run 100% on solar power. This is an important step towards achieving our goals and a major breakthrough in the region’s desalination,” according to Pierre Pauliac, Middle East chief executive for Suez (ENGIE). “There is no longer any doubt we can now run a desalination plant on solar power. Our next step now is to take these findings and apply them to industrial scale desalination. “I am very optimistic that in the next eighteen months we will have solar panels powering large scale desalination plants because we have tried it and it will work.” Dubai expects more than 8% of its total power to be generated from clean energy by 2020.

Exxon, Qatar Petroleum Win Three Blocks Offshore Argentina

ExxonMobil Argentina Offshore Investments B.V. and a Qatar Petroleum affiliate snagged three exploration blocks offshore Argentina. ExxonMobil subsidiary, ExxonMobil Argentina Offshore Investments B.V., along with a Qatar Petroleum affiliate, won three exploration blocks offshore Argentina during the country’s first offshore bid round, the companies announced Tuesday. The blocks MLO-113, MLO-117 and MLO-118 – located in the Malvinas basin 200 miles offshore Tierra del Fuego – will add about 2.6 million net acres to Exxon’s existing holdings in Argentina. “We look forward to working with our co-venturer to explore this new opportunity in Argentina,” Mike Cousins, senior vice president of ExxonMobil Exploration and New Ventures, said in a company statement. “This potential play-opening opportunity will allow ExxonMobil to use its unique exploration capabilities and expertise as it evaluates this new acreage.” Qatar Petroleum CEO Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi added, “We are pleased to have been awarded these offshore exploration blocks, which further strengthen QP’s footprint within Argentina…” ExxonMobil will operate the blocks with a 70 percent working interest while the Qatar Petroleum affiliate will hold the remaining 30 percent. Initial work will include 3-D seismic data acquisition.

Halliburton awarded Shell Offshore exploration contract in Brazil’s Campos, Santos basins

Photo: TGS Campos Basin Brazil. Halliburton Company has announced the execution of an integrated services contract with Royal Dutch Shell for post-salt development and pre-salt exploration in Brazil’s Campos and Santos Basins. Under the contract, which includes a three-year term with a two-year extension, Halliburton will provide drilling services to drive greater efficiency by integrating multiple product offerings and technologies. “Our integrated services model is designed to help accelerate new field development, reduce drilling and completion costs and increase recovery through the utilization of our innovative technologies and basin insight,” said Anouar Fraija, V.P. of Halliburton Brazil. “We are excited to win this award and collaborate with Shell to deliver integrated solutions that maximize their asset value.” Halliburton has an established track record in Brazil’s pre-salt fields, which are among the most complex wells ever drilled, and require a broad scope of technologies and capabilities to achieve economical and operational success. Halliburton also maintains a technology center in Rio de Janeiro which serves as a global center of expertise for deepwater innovation and training. The center’s capabilities allow Halliburton to more quickly translate offshore knowledge into new technologies that reduce uncertainty and increase efficiency and reliability.

Fuel prices in Ghana to go up “marginally” – IES

There will be slight increment in the price of fuel on the market, the Institute for Energy Security (IES) is predicting.

“This is irrespective of the 2.5% appreciation of the Cedi against the dollar,” the IES said in its second pricing window forecast for April.

However, it said “while some OMCs could keep prices unchanged in order to maintain market share as part of the deregulation policy, most OMCs are likely to take advantage of the window to make up for previous ‘depressed’ margins.”

“On that note, IES wishes to conscientize Ghanaians to observe the displayed fuel price boards of the various OMCs before making purchases in order to benefit from the deregulation policy’s competitive pricing,” it added.

Below is the full forecast statement:

REVIEW OF FIRST PRICING-WINDOW OF APRIL

Local Fuel Market Performance

In the window under review, some select Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) reviewed their prices downwards to maintain market shares, while largely prices stayed unchanged. Gasoil and Gasoline continue to be sold on average terms at GHc5.12 and GHc5.15 respectively. IES Market-Scan shows Star Oil, Pacific Oil, and Benab Oil sell the least-priced fuel on the market relative to other OMCs. Fuel from these outlets are 3% lower than the national average fuel price.

World Oil Market

An observation of the international oil market reveals Brent crude traded at an average price of $69.55 per barrel within the period under review representing an increment of 3.98% from a previous average trading price of $66.9 per barrel. Within the window, crude oil price peaked at $71.83 per barrel having hovered around $65 for several weeks. This is attributable to some developments around the world, including but not limited to the renewed clashes in Libya and OPEC production falls. OPEC production in March fell by 534,000 bpd, led by a massive 324,000-bpd reduction from Saudi Arabia, putting overall output at just below 9.8 million barrels per day (mb/d), below the 10-mb/d ceiling as part of the OPEC+ deal. In Standard and Poor’s Global Platts analysis, Gasoline prices went up 12.97% to close trading at $684.63 metric tonne, from a previous trading price of $606.02 per metric tonne; while Gasoil also increased by 1.42%. Selling at a previous price of $606.12 per metric tonne, it rose to close trading at $614.77 per metric tonne within the Pricing-window under review.

Local Forex

The Forex performance of the local currency Cedi against the U.S. Dollar for the window saw an improvement as the Cedi continues to appreciate following its recent recovery. Data gathered by IES Economic desk shows the cedi is currently trading at GH¢5.28; a clear 2.5% movement from the GH¢5.42 that heralded the last window.

PROJECTIONS FOR APRIL SECOND PRICING-WINDOW

Considering the fact that average Brent crude price has gone up by 3.98% with a corresponding 12.97% increment in the price Gasoline and 1.42% for Gasoil on the International market, the Institute for Energy Security (IES) foresees a slight increment in the price of fuel on the market. This is irrespective of the 2.5% appreciation of the Cedi against the dollar. While some OMCs could keep prices unchanged in order to maintain market share as part of the deregulation policy, most OMCs are likely to take advantage of the window to make up for previous ‘depressed’ margins. On that note, IES wishes to conscientize Ghanaians to observe the displayed fuel price boards of the various OMCs before making purchases in order to benefit from the deregulation policy’s competitive pricing.

Signed:

MIKDAD MOHAMMED

Research Analyst

GH¢36m saved due to prudent management of pre-mix fuel-Afoley

The Government has saved GH¢ 36 million within two years for the prudent management of the pre-mix fuel and halting the diversion of the commodity.

Additionally, the 286 Landing Beach Committees had accumulated over seven million Ghana cedis in their Community Development Fund accounts from the sale of pre-mix fuel allocated to the community.

Consequently, the National Pre-mix Fuel Secretariat had installed tracking devices at the Secretariat to monitor the movement of the trucks that cart the commodity from the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) to the intended destination to check diversion and other corrupt practices.

Madam Elizabeth Afoley Quaye, the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, announced this at the Meet-the-Press Series in Accra on Tuesday, to update the public on the Ministry’s activities and achievements and solicit ideas to enhance its policies.

She said the accumulated amount in the Community Development Fund of the LBCs were being used to fund various developmental projects including market centres, drainage systems, toilet facilities, community-based health planning systems (CHIPS) compounds and hostels, which were at the various stages of completion.

Madam Afoley Quaye said hitherto, the 53 percent of the proceeds from the sale of pre-mix fuel meant for community development ended up in individual pockets, for funding the construction of political party offices and party activities at the expense of the people.

Explaining how those successes were chalked, the Minister said upon assumption of office by the ruling NPP Government, it constituted an Inter-Ministerial Committee comprising the Energy, the Finance, Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, National Petroleum Authority and the National Premix Fuel Secretariat and outlined strategic measures to halt the corruption in the pre-mix fuel sale and management.

The measures implemented by the Inter-Ministerial Committee resulted in the reduction of the number of Landing Beach Committees from 475 to 286, while daily and monthly returns book were introduced for proper record keeping and accountability of the sale of the commodity.

Source: GNA

PDS Replaces Damaged Lakeside Legon Electric Pole

The replaced electric pole The Power Distribution Services (PDS) has replaced the damaged electric pole at Lakeside, a suburb of Legon in the Greater Accra Region, which carried a transformer supplying power to the area. The replacement followed a concern raised by a resident of the area in a Facebook post, which energynewsafrica.com published at the weekend. After the publication, PDS informed this portal that it would despatch its engineers to the area to replace the damaged pole to avert any imminent disaster. This portal can confirm that the pole had been replaced as promised by PDS. This was the Facebook post shared by the resident: Dear Power Distribution Services (PDS) .This is happening right in Accra, Lakeside to be specific within the Legon District. Don’t wait for people to die before we come and say “THE INCONVENIENCE IS DEEPLY REGRETTED” . Don’t wait until the unthinkable happens for officialdom to come and read looooooong speeches and BIG GRAMMAR. It has been like this for well over 2weeks. How much does it cost to replace a wooden pole that carries a transformer? We pay some “ENGINEERS” in the LEGON DISTRICT to work, but this is what we get……… I have done my part for GOD AND COUNTRY. Let the responsible people ACT. CITIZEN AND NOT A SPECTATOR Engineers of PDS at the site

No fatality at Ghana Gas since 2011

The Ghana National Gas company at Atuabo in the Western Region has achieved 16 million man-hours operational time without any fatality or accident since its establishment in 2011.

The General Manager in-charge of Operations at Ghana Gas, Mr Robert Kofi Lartey revealed this when the Parliamentary Select Committee on Mines and Energy visited the gas processing plant at Atuabo on Monday. The visit was to help members of the committee get abreast with the operations of the gas processing plant. He indicated that the company takes safety issues seriously and so had set up community liaison officers who were trained periodically on safety related matters as far as the operations of the company were concerned. “This is part of the requirements of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) so that the officers would educate the residents in the communities in which the company operate on our safety issues”, he told the members of the select committee,” he said. He indicated that since the company’s pipelines were located offshore, Ghana Gas was collaborating with the Marine Police to educate fishermen on the need to stay away from the installation of the gas processing in the sea. He told the members that Ghana Gas Company was undertaking an expansion exercise to enable it process more gas by 2024 for both power generation plants and private businesses. “We have laid a very good foundation for any industry that is interested in doing business with Ghana Gas to easily off-take reliable supply of Gas at any time. “Currently, we have a gas pipeline from Aboadze to a free-zone enclave at Ashiem in the Shama District called Wanka Ceramics which is taking lean gas from us. We also have Twyford ceremanics that is also taking gas. “At the Prestea corridor, we are undertaking a massive infrastructural expansion activity over there and hopefully by June this year we should have another private company that will be ready take gas for power generation”, he revealed. Vice Chairman of the Select Committee, George Mireku Duker, commended Ghana Gas Company for undertaking an expansion exercise to enable it process more gas by 2024 for both power generation plants and private businesses. A Ranking Member of the Committee, Adams Mutawakilu said he was impressed with the manner in which Ghanaians were able to manage the infrastructure. “This is a clear manifestation that when we are given our own assets, we can manage them. Now Ghanaians are managing Ghana Gas with world class safety records and environment”, he indicated.

Seplat and Nigerian Gas Prepare to Boost Output

Seplat Petroleum Development Co. and Nigeria’s state-run Nigerian Gas Co., a unit of NNPC, are looking to bring production onstream from a $700 million joint gas project in a year. The project, known as Assa North-Ohaji South, is one of seven projects to boost gas production and infrastructure development in Nigeria.

ANOH Gas Processing Co., which is owned by Seplat and Nigerian Gas Co., will develop, build and operate the plant located in Imo state.

Seplat and Nigerian Gas will provide 60% of the funds as equity, while ANOH will source the balance as debt, Seplat CEO Austin Avuru said in a Bloomberg interview. “Both parties already have each contributed $100 million in equity,” Avuru said. “There will be another equity injection and at the back end of it will be debt.’’

The plant, which will process wet gas from the unitized upstream fields at OML 53 and OML 21, has an initial capacity of 300 Mmcf/d. It’s scheduled to begin production by the last quarter of 2020 and the first supply is targeted in 2021, Avuru said.

ANOH will target local customers and has the capacity to double production “depending on domestic demand and the availability of feeds including third-party gas,” Avuru said. Source: petroleumafrica.com

GNPC to pay US$250m for unused gas

Dr. Kofi Kodua Sarpong, CEO of Ghana National Petroleum Corporation
The take-or-pay obligations under the various gas purchase agreements has brought financial burden to the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), the Parliamentary Select Committee on Mines and Energy has indicated.

Under the agreement, the government is under an obligation to off-take the gas from the various oil producing fields in the country and failure to do so attracts a penalty. As a result of the country’s failure to put in place the appropriate infrastructure to off-take the gas from these fields, the GNPC has been left with no choice than to cough up US$250 million to settle the country’s obligations in 2019. This was contained in the committee’s report on the 2019 programmes and activities which was presented to the house on April 10. The committee noted that the monthly commitment from the Sankofa-Gye-Nyame field alone was about US$42 million per month. Relocation of Karpowership In a bid to fully utilise the gas from these fields, the GNPC has budgeted an amount of US$31.5 million to relocate the Karpowership power barge from Tema to Aboadze in the Western Region to enable it to make use of about 60 MMScf/d of gas from the Sankofa-Gye-Nyame field. This is also expected to help ensure the full utilisation of indigenous gas resources, while ensuring the barge reaches its capacity. GNPC’s commitment under escrow account The committee was also informed that the GNPC’s commitment to maintaining a minimum amount of US$205 million in a reserve escrow account to cover four and half months of gas payment under the Offshore Cape Three Points (OCTP) gas supply agreement had been reviewed downwards to US$157 million following the recent adjustment in gas prices. While the corporation had made efforts to meet the minimum amount required under the agreement, the committee noted that the off-takers of gas in the downstream had not been able to pay the gas delivered to them, resulting the GNPC having to continuously make annual budgetary allocations to replenish the drawdowns. The committee, therefore, urged the government to step up its efforts in finding lasting solutions to the financing challenges of the energy sector institutions. Financial requirements It was also observed that total revenue of US$1.3 billion was originally expected to be accrued to the GNPC in 2019, while expenditure was projected at US$1.6 billion. The expected revenue included the corporation’s share of crude oil sales and internally generated funds totaling US$609.2 million and gas business of US$748 million, resulting in a gap of US$250.76 million. The committee, however, noted that contrary to the Petroleum Revenue Management Act, 2011 (Act 815), the corporation had stated as part of its incomes, receivables in the amount of US$232.82 million as coming from portions of the petroleum royalties due the state. Though the corporation indicated the consent of the Ministry of Finance in such financing arrangement, the committee found it to be in contravention of the Act and accordingly recommended for its removal. The Minister of Energy in consultation with the corporation accepted the committee’s recommendation and reprioritised the expenditure items, resulting in a new funding gap of US$493.58 million to be financed through borrowing. Corporate Social Responsibility In justifying an allocation of an amount of US$43.05 million for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), the corporation explained that Ghana had adopted petroleum local content and local participation policy with an objective of maximising the benefits of oil and gas endowments. The sector is, however, currently dominated by foreign participation in terms of key positions and major contracts, making the realisation of such policy objective impossible. Officials of the GNPC, therefore, explained to the committee that its three-prong concept on CSR was, therefore, geared towards creating a harmonious condition for the development of requisite local human resources for Ghana’s petroleum industry Source: Graphic. com.gh

South Sudan’s Oil Flow Not Impacted By Unrest In Sudan

Oil flow from South Sudan has not been affected by the political turmoil in its neighbor to the north, Sudan, the oil minister of South Sudan, Ezekiel Lul Gatkuoth, has told Reuters. Last week, Omar al-Bashir, long-term President of Sudan, was toppled from power by the military and placed under “heavy guard”, following months of protests against the government and its handling of a severe economic crisis in the country. Sudan’s Defense Minister Awad Mohamed Ahmed Ibn Auf said that there would be a two-year transition period of military rule and a council governing the country. Presidential elections will be held after the transition period expires. Sudan, a relatively small African oil producer, has been plagued by economic hardships since South Sudan seceded in 2011. South Sudan broke from Sudan that year and took with it around 350,000 bpd in oil production. After South Sudan’s secession from Sudan, the two countries have been mutually dependent on oil revenues, because the south has 75 percent of the oil reserves, while the north has the only current transport route for the oil to international markets. After the coup in Sudan, oil flows normally from South Sudan as of Saturday, minister Gatkuoth said. “The technical teams from both sides in South Sudan and Sudan are cooperating very well and nothing is alarming at all,” he told Reuters. Earlier this year, Gatkuoth said that South Sudan was looking to pump more than 350,000 bpd of oil by the middle of next year, compared to current production levels of around 140,000 bpd. By the end of 2019, South Sudan expects its oil production to nearly double from the current 140,000 bpd to 270,000 bpd, Gatkuoth told Reuters in February this year. By the middle of 2020, the country aims to restore production to the pre-civil war levels, he noted. Source: Oilprice.com

Amazon to procure 229MW of wind power by 2021

Amazon has announced that it will purchase wind power generated by three wind farms in Ireland, Sweden and the US as part of its long-term goal to power all Amazon Web Services global infrastructure with renewable energy. According to e-commerce firm, these projects will deliver wind-generated energy that will total over 229MW of power, with expected generation of over 670,000MWh of renewable energy annually. Amazon has committed to buying the energy from a new wind project in Ireland, a 91.2MW wind farm in Donegal. The Donegal wind farm project, which will be developed by Invis Energy, is expected to deliver clean energy no later than the end of 2021. The wind farm in Donegal, which will be built without any subsidies, is not subject to the public service obligation (PSO) levy and will be undertaken at no cost to the Irish energy consumer. As such, it is the first unsubsidised corporate Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) project in Ireland. Amazon will also purchase 91MW of power from a new wind farm in Bäckhammar, Sweden, which is expected to deliver renewable energy by the end of 2020. Read: High-resolution wind resource map for South Africa, now available The wind farm project in Tehachapi, California is expected to bring up to 47MW of new renewable energy capacity by the end of 2020. Once complete, these projects, combined with Amazon Web Services’ (AWS) previous nine renewable energy projects, are expected to generate more than 2,700,000MWh of renewable energy annually. “Each of these projects brings us closer to our long-term commitment to use 100 percent renewable energy to power our global AWS infrastructure,” said Peter DeSantis, Vice President of Global Infrastructure and Customer Support, Amazon Web Services. “These projects are well-positioned to serve AWS data centers in Ireland, Sweden, and the US. We expect more projects in 2019 as we continue toward our goal of powering all AWS global infrastructure with renewable energy.” “AWS’ investment in renewable projects in Ireland illustrates their continued commitment to adding clean energy to the grid and it will make a positive contribution to Ireland’s renewable energy goals,” said Taoiseach Leo Varadkar. Varadkar added: “As a significant employer in Ireland, it is very encouraging to see Amazon taking a lead on this issue. We look forward to continuing to work with Amazon as we strive to make Ireland a leader on renewable energy.” “By 2030, 70% of Ireland’s electricity will come from renewable sources,” said Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Richard Bruton, TD. “Today that figure is at 30%. We must step up our ambition across the board. Projects led by the corporate sector will be a crucial part of our overall plan to deliver on this target. This announcement by Amazon is a landmark deal in Ireland, the first such corporate agreement in our country to provide unsubsidized renewable energy,” Bruton added. “We are delighted to partner with Amazon and support them to reach their 100% global renewable goal,” said Emma Tinker, Chief Investment Officer, Invis Energy. Tinker noted: “Building the first subsidy-free project in Ireland is an incredibly exciting milestone both for the country and for Invis Energy.”