Fuel Quality in AFRICA

With cooperation among the World Bank, the United Nations Environment Program, the International Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association, local governments and the refining industry, leaded gasoline has been phased out in sub-Saharan Africa.
The AFRI specifications, which were adopted by the African Refiners Association in 2007, harmonize basic fuel quality parameters in RON, MON, lead, sulfur and benzene for gasoline, and cetane, sulfur, density and lubricity for diesel, enabling the African countries the system approach to the fuel quality issues. The road map’s adoption marks an important development in the arena of fuel quality. The proposal is a tool that will allow governments and the oil industry to level fuel quality standards, encourage trading, and prevent fuel adulteration and smuggling.
The specifications are, however, voluntary and no timing is connected with their implementation if the country decides to follow them. Auto manufacturers stress AFRI specifications are neither stringent enough nor compatible with the progress the automobile sector made to improve and develop vehicle technology. Representatives of the African refinery sector, however, present the opinion that these specifications are optimal taking into consideration the status of the African oil market.

Refinery sector
There are 44 operating refineries in 17 African countries. Most of the refineries are in countries with direct access to the ocean or sea. Egypt has the highest number of refineries at seven. South Africa has six refineries, and Algeria and Libya have five.

The refineries’ output varies among regions. In 2006, in western and central Africa, refinery utilization rate accounted for 53% of their nameplate capacity; in southern and eastern Africa, it was 72%. There is no comparable data for northern Africa, but in 2005 in this region, the refinery output accounted for 82% of the capacity.

Total capacity of the refinery sector in Africa is estimated at about 172 million tons per year. When this volume is compared with annual oil product demand, which accounted for 125 million tons in 2006, the conclusion can be drawn that if refineries were fully operational, Africa could be a net exporter of oil products or at least could meet domestic demand. Currently the region, except from north Africa, is a net importer of fuels, at about 35 million tons per year. The majority of fuels is imported from the Middle East and India. In 2006, for the first time, fuel was imported to western Africa from northern Europe.

Distribution sector
The structure of the distribution sector in Africa is changing. Companies that had leading positions in the African market are withdrawing. ExxonMobil and Shell have sold most of their premises giving room for new players, such as Afriquia in Morocco, national oil companies in Ethiopia, Elton Oil in Senegal, Kobil in east Africa and Tamoil in northern Africa.

The African petroleum market is a challenge as well as an opportunity for oil companies. They can take advantage of the recent increasing trend in oil product consumption that most likely is going to be continued in the future.

Summary
The overview of fuel quality in Africa concludes that high sulfur content is the main fuel property that causes problems with the implementation of AFRI specifications. The maps provide an overview of the sulfur level in African countries.

There also are still countries with leaded gasoline – Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Zambia, Uganda, Central African Republic and Chad. Tunisia is the only country that set a date to phase out leaded gasoline. However, there are countries that meet AFRI 1 (gasoline: Mauritania, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Sudan, Tanzania; diesel: Benin, Guinea, Liberia, Mauritania, Senegal, Sierra Leone) and AFRI 2 (gasoline: Cape Verde, Mala, Cameroon, Congo Brazzaville, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa; diesel: Cape Verde, Nigeria, Algeria, Angola, Sao Tome).

Phasing out the leaded fuel and tightening fuel specifications should be enhanced in Africa, especially when taking into consideration recent and future developments in other regions of the world. The situation in Europe and the United States – the dieselization trend, strengthening fuel quality and emissions requirements, wider use and promotion of biofuels – will have influence in Africa. The harmonization process of fuel quality, driven by car manufacturers, is also important for the region and has to be taken into consideration by African governments. This is a challenge for African refiners, who will have to upgrade their facilities.

For more information about the Special Report referenced in this article, contact Urszula Szalkowska, manager, Europe & Africa, at +32.2.661.3080 or uszalkowska@ifqc.org; or Sandrine Dixson-Declève, executive director, Europe & Africa, at sdixson@ifqc.org