The Executive Secretary of the African Refiners and Distributors Association (ARDA), Anibor Kragha, has said that Nigeria and other African countries need about $15.7 billion to upgrade existing refineries in their bid to reduce sulphur content. He said the upgrade was necessary to aid Africa to embrace cleaner sources of fuels, but noted that targeted financing was needed urgently for projects to upgrade refineries and infrastructure. Speaking during ARDA’s second refining and specifications virtual workshop, he also stated that the adoption of harmonised specifications would halt the importation of fuels not meeting the AFRI specs into Africa. He added that it would give existing refineries until 2030 to upgrade their facilities to produce cleaner, lower sulphur AFRI-6 specifications. Kragha said: “New process units required are to improve key fuel specifications, especially Naptha Hydrotreater (NHdT), Diesel Hydro-desulph. (DHDS), Benzene Extraction, Sulphur, and Hydrogen Plants. “Another key focus area is for African countries, especially those sharing common fuel supply chains to develop an integrated policy covering both fuel quality and vehicle exhaust emissions. “This is to achieve the ultimate objective of clean air in our African cities. Without this integrated and coordinated policy, the objective of clean air will not be realised whether by imports or local production.” Data Manager at CITAC, Richard Augood, who spoke on “upgrading refineries to produce AFRI-6 standard fuels,” said there was the need for more investment to ensure that African refineries complied with AFRI-6. He said: “In Libya, Azzawiya would need Benzene extraction, El Brega would need NHT, Benzene extraction while Sarir would need to be upgraded with NHT, Benzene extraction. “In West and Central Africa, Angola, Sonaref refinery needs NHT, benzene extraction as Chad’s SRN needs CGDS and Benzene extraction while Congo’s CORAF needs NHT, Benzene extraction, and H2 and Côte d’Ivoire’s SIR needs Benzene extraction and H2. “In Nigeria, Warri, Kaduna and Port Harcourt refineries would need NHT, CGDS and Benzene extraction, while Senegal’s SAR must be upgraded with benzene extraction to meet AFRI specifications.” Oil and refining research analyst at Vitol, Maryro Mendez, stated that there had been an increase in investment with the sustainability plan despite the withdrawal of funds from fossils. She quoted Bloomberg statistics that sustainable debt annual issuance now borders around $824.7 billion as capital raised for renewables funds now dominates the energy sector. She said the lack of uniform policies made it difficult for refineries to pass on the cost of carbon to customers as carbon price shifts the cost burden of climate change from society as a whole to the entities responsible for the emissions, providing a lack of incentive for refiners to reduce emissions. Mendez said: “The refining sector accounts for only three percent of the global energy sector emissions. While refineries’ contribution to global energy sector emissions is low, the opportunities for reducing them are significant. “Refineries globally have started thinking about measuring, monitoring, and reducing carbon emissions and environmental sustainability has to be a priority for refiners and Africa is no exception.”
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