Displaying items by tag: Oil

Nigeria: Dangote Cement says that it co-processed 89,000t of waste as alternative fuel (AF) in its cement production as a group in 2021. The Nigerian Guardian newspaper has reported that the source materials consisted of biomass, waste tyres, fly ash and oil-based waste.

Speaking on International Mother Earth Day on 22 April 2022, head of AF projects Peter Anagbe said that the company continues to demonstrate its commitment to sustainable waste management through its advancement of local community recycling projects.

Norway: Norcem plans to invest up to Euro8m on upgrades at its integrated Kjøpsvik cement plant to improve its receiving, handling and feeding of alternative fuels. The project will be implemented by 2023. The work will include installing new storage and dosing systems for waste oil, FAB pellets and bone meal.

Japan: Sumitomo Osaka Cement subsidiary Hachinohe Cement has announced that it will be receiving heavy oil and woodchips from cargo washed ashore from the wreck of a ship at Hachinohe port on 11 August 2021. The company plans to use the waste as refuse-derived fuel (RDF) for cement production at its cement Hachinohe cement plant. The company said that the oil spill from the incident has had a great impact on the region. It added “In the future, we would like to actively promote the acceptance of wreckage with heavy oil attached and cooperate in the early resolution of the situation.”

Kenya: 58% LafargeHolcim subsidiary Bamburi Cement has set out an ambitious alternative fuel plan. In a statement, it said that it would aim to use 30% biomass-derived fuel in cement kilns at its 1.1Mt/yr integrated Mombasa plant. The figure currently stands at 12%. Municipal waste and tyres were among other fuel sources targeted for substitution. In a first step towards achieving this, Bamburi Cement has signed a supply agreement with the Port of Mombasa for confiscated cargoes.

Since 26 September 2019, Bamburi has received waste fuel oil from Shell petrol stations across Kenya via its subsidiary Geocycle at a rate of 240t/yr. In co-processing the oil, Bamburi is helping dispose of some of the 60,000t of waste petroleum produced in Kenya annually. Afrik21 has reported that, with an expenditure of US$5.8m in 2018, alternative fuel substitution is an attempt by the company to reduce untenable operating costs, notably including electricity costs of US$87/MWh. “Bamburi is looking at more partnerships for the disposal of various types of waste as we work to contribute to environmental conservation as part of our sustainability ambitions,” said Bamburi Cement managing director Seddiq Hassani.

Nigeria: Aliko Dangote, president of Nigeria's largest cement producer Dangote Group, has announced that he is increasing his refinery's capacity to 650,000b/day. The move, according to petroleum industry analysts, will see Nigeria listed as having the largest petroleum refinery in the world.

Dangote said that the initial plan was to have 450,000b/day refining capacity, but that he has since opted for a bigger plant because he believes that Nigeria, as a leading producer of crude oil, should also be credited with local refining capacity. Currently, Nigeria produces crude oil, but has to buy refined products from abroad. Dangote Group executive director Devakumar Edwin said that the Dangote refinery was ready to reverse the trend. The refiner is expected to be fully operational by 2017.

Egypt: Egyptian minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Sherif Ismail has signed six new oil and gas exploration contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars with foreign and Egyptian companies, according to local media.

Petroleum minister Eng. Ismail signed the agreements with Netherland's Shell, Italy's Eni, the UK's British Petroleum, Canada's TransGlobe, Egypt's Tharwa and the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation.

The signed deals are worth US$272m in investments, in addition to US$124m worth of grants that were allocated to drilling 41 wells. The government is keen to develop untapped finds to reduce its reliance on imports, but has struggled to persuade companies to invest in the biggest finds, which are offshore, because the amount it pays them barely covers the investment costs.