As the demand for petroleum products across Sub-Saharan Africa is projected to rise by 53 per cent to 177 million metric tonnes by 2040, African Refiners and Distributors Association (ARDA) have called for investments in refinery, story and distribution infrastructure in the region.
Coming on the backdrop of increased population and industrial activities, Executive Secretary of ARDA, speaking at the Angola Oil and Gas Conference in Luanda, said the region must prioritise cleaner fuel to avert looming pollution from the rising demand.
Pushing for energy security on the continent, Kragha said there was a need to maximise processing of African crude oil in African refineries, noting that production must be transported to cleaner fuels via integrated African Storage and Distribution infrastructure across the continent.
Kragha said refineries across Africa must on the short term maximise value addition, while lowering carbon footprint with focus on premium motor spirit, jet fuel and diesel.
On the midterm approach, Kragha said the refineries should have stringent fuel specifications, product flexibility to meet market needs, reduction in diesel production, more petrochemical and higher capital efficiency.
In the long term, he envisaged zero fuel, higher capital efficiency, direct production of petrochemicals through alternative routes and lower environmental footprint.
Kragha said the continent needed coordinated storage and distribution investments to deliver its Energy Transition Plans. Calling for investment in regional, pan-African oil and product pipelines, Kragha stated that only six countries have crude oil pipelines only, while eight have products pipelines only as six countries in the region have both crude and product pipelines.
According to him, coming up with deepwater ports in Africa would reduce congestion and shipping costs, stressing that the region has limitations in port infrastructure, which is increasing congestion and fuel costs
The ARDA chief said a minimum port draft of 14 meters could save $15 per metric ton of imported products. Instead of rushing towards energy transition, Kragha called for a long-term plan that would enable the continent to address the energy challenges in a space of three decades.
He said: “Fossil fuels demand and product imports will grow over the next two decades. Major urban population growth results in increased pollution. Sustainable transition to cleaner fuels is imperative to address public health issues.”
