DMEA: Fuels in focus

In this week’s DMEA, Iraq begins sending gasoline to Erbil, while Aramco and TotalEnergies launch their first two fuel service stations.

The federal government in Baghdad has started sending tankers filled with gasoline to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Erbil to ease a fuel supply crisis in the semi-autonomous region.

The KRG announced this week that following a meeting between Kurdistan’s Minister of Natural Resources Kamal Atroshi and Iraqi Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul Jabbar, the first cargoes of 540,000 litres per day of gasoline had been received.

Fatah Rahman, general-director at the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR), said: “Baghdad will provide 540,000 litres of gasoline to the Kurdistan Region provinces daily, and this amount will double on November 1, 2021, meaning it will become a 1.08mn litres [per day] of gasoline.”

He added that the fuel would be priced at IQD690 ($0.47) per litre at fuel stations. According to Atroshi, the KRG’s gasoline demand sits at around 5mn litres per day.

KRG spokesperson Jotiar Adil was quoted by local media outlet Rudaw as saying: “We do not mind if businessmen import gasoline that serves the people, but as I said, it has to be very high quality as per the standards we have set, and the price be reasonable, and serves the people.”

Meanwhile, Saudi Aramco and France’s Total Energies have launched two new fuel service stations in Saudi Arabia under a joint venture (JV) agreement signed in 2019. The two stations, located in Riyadh and Saihat in Eastern Province respectively, are part of a broader scheme to upgrade Aramco’s 270 service stations across the Kingdom.

Meanwhile, it also illustrates a growing bond between the two companies in the downstream which is highlighted by the 440,000 barrel per day (bpd) Saudi Aramco Total Refining and Petrochemical (SATORP) facility in Jubail that was commissioned in 2014.

In a joint statement, the companies said that the new network “will comprise Aramco or TotalEnergies branded stations, providing motorists with premium fuels and retail services”.