Day: February 14, 2024

The weather Wednesday is slightly cloudy in most regions, getting very cloudy in the north and eastern coasts. The wind is blowing north quite strong near coasts, light to moderate inland. The sea is very choppy to rough. Highs are ranging between 16°C and 21°C, hovering over 14°C on heights. Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

The Banque Internationale Arabe de Tunisie (BIAT), represented by the members of its Board of Directors, undertook to take measures and launch a number of national projects focusing on two sectors, namely, social commitment and national economy reboot. These measures and projects follow talks between President of the Republic Kaies Saied and member of BIAT's Board of Directors in charge of relations with public authorities Mohamed Agrebi, according to a bank's press release on Tuesday. As part of its social commitment, BIAT will undertake the complete restoration and renovation of the Belvédère municipal swimming pool and its annexes and the Ibn Khaldoun cultural centre in Tunis, and will also provide support to pupils and high school students selected by the relevant authorities in order to improve their schooling conditions. As far as banking and financial commitments are concerned, BIAT intends to set up a support system for the creation of communitarian companies, which consists of the following: To fi nance communitarian companies with an interest rate equal to the money market rate (TMM), organise workshops in all the governorates of Tunisia to study the specific needs of promoters of communitarian companies and the practical procedures of their support, in coordination with the relevant authorities. BIAT's banking experts will also be on hand in the various regions to assist promoters of communitarian companies with the financial arrangements needed to ensure the success of their projects. Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Tunisia is participating in BIOFACH trade fair on February 13-16 in Nuremberg, Germany. The participation is organised by the Agricultural Investment Promotion Agency (French : APIA). Eleven enterprises are displaying fresh and processed organic products, mainly dates, olive oil, prickly pear, herbal medicinal products, aromatic plants and essential oils. Participating enterprises have the opportunity to learn more about organic farming in the world and build on the expertise available as all actors - organic farmers and processors and agencies - are taking part in this leading organic food trade fair, APIA further said. Tunisia seeks to explore export opportunities and hold B2B meetings to seal new partnerships. Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

The deficit in the energy trade balance narrowed 7% in 2023 compared to 2022, (taking into account the royalty on Algerian gas exported via Tunisia). The deficit reached TND 8,993 million, as per the December 2023 monthly report on energy trends published by the National Energy and Mines Observatory. Energy product exports saw a 23% drop in value by the end of December 2023 compared to the same period in 2022, amounting to TND 4,083 million. Similarly, imports decreased by 13%, totalling TND 13,076 million, according to the same source. The value of petroleum product exports dropped by 35% in 2023 compared to the previous year, settling at TND 913 million. The value of petroleum product imports also decreased by 13% compared to 2022, amounting to 7,846 MD. Likewise, the value of crude oil imports took a 29% dive, to TND 1,713 million. Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

The total demand for natural gas decreased by 3% between 2022 and 2023, to stand at 4,706 kilotons of oil equivalent (ktoe), according to the Monthly Report on the Energy Situation of December 2023, published by the National Energy and Mines Observatory. The electricity production sector remains, by far, the largest consumer of natural gas, representing 72% of total demand in 2023. For end uses (excluding electricity production), demand for natural gas decreased by 6% to stand at 1,341 ktoe. Demand from medium and low pressure customers recorded a decrease of 2% and that of high pressure customers fell by 16%. The drop in demand from the electricity sector is due to the limited availability of natural gas and does not reflect demand of the electrical sector. The overall specific consumption of electricity production means (STEG + Independent Electricity Producers (IPP)) recorded a slight improvement of 1% between 2022 and 2023 to stand at 200 tonnes of oil equivalent (toe)/gigawatt hour (GWh ) Regarding A lgerian gas purchases, they increased by 1%, between 2022 and 2023, to stand at 2,395 ktoe. Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Total electricity production in 2023 dropped by 1% to 19,293 GWh (excluding captive consumption), compared with 19,520 GWh in 2022. Production for the local market also decreased by 1%, according to the monthly report on the energy situation for December 2023 published by the National Observatory of Energy and Mines. Electricity purchases from Algeria and Libya covered 11% of the local market's needs in 2023. STEG still has the lion's share of electricity production, accounting for 99% of domestic production in 2023. It should be noted that electricity generation from renewable sources accounts for 2.2%. Industry remains the largest consumer of electricity, accounting for 58% of total HV and MV customer demand in 2023. The majority of sectors saw a decrease in sales, in particular paper and publishing (-13%), extractive industries (-11%) and IMCCV (-11%), while sales went up in pumping (water and sanitation) (+7%) and tourism (+6%). Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

National crude oil production reached 1,566 kilotonnes (kt) in 2023, down 5% compared to 2022, according to the December 2023 monthly report on energy trends published by the National Energy and Mines Observatory. This decline will affect most major fields, including Halk el Manzel, which started production in 2021 (-35%), Ashtart (-14%), M.L.D. (-29%), El Borma (-8%), Oued Zar (-20%), Hasdrubal (-11%), Cherouq (-16%), Miskar (-12%) and Franig/Bag/Tarfa (-17%). Conversely, other fields recorded production increases, such as Nawara (+26%), Gherib (+25%), Cercina (+21%), Elhajeb-Guebiba (+7%) and Baraka (+18%). Average daily oil production decreased from 35.4 thousand barrels per day in 2022 to 33.1 thousand barrels per day in 2023. Natural gas resources (including national production and fiscal contributions) reached 2,629 kilotonnes of oil equivalent (ktoe) in 2023, a decrease of 8% compared to the previous year. Commercial dry gas production decreased by 10% and the royalty on Algerian gas transit decre ased by 5% in 2023 compared to 2022, reaching 1003 ktoe. National natural gas supply decreased by 4% between 2022 and 2023, reaching 4716 ktoe. As for national demand for petroleum products, it went down 3% in 2023 compared to 2022, reaching 4,422 ktoe. The Observatory reported a 16% decline in gasoline demand, a 2% decrease in gasoline demand and a 7% decline in diesel demand in 2023. However, demand for aviation kerosene increased by 14% and demand for petroleum coke grew by 5%. On the other hand, the structure of oil product consumption did not change significantly between 2022 and 2023, except for a few products. The share of gasoline decreased from 5% in 2022 to 4% in 2023, and the share of diesel went down from 46% to 44% over the same period. However, the share of petroleum coke rose from 11% to 12% and the share of jet fuel increased from 5% to 6%. Consumption of road fuels dropped by 5% between 2022 and 2023, accounting for 62% of total oil product consumption. Meanwhile, LPG consumption increas ed slightly by 1% and pet coke consumption went up by 5%. The consumption of jet fuel for aviation posted a significant increase of 14% in 2023 compared to the previous year due to the recovery of the aviation sector, which was severely affected by the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

The energy independence rate, which represents the ratio of primary energy resources to primary consumption, was 48% in 2023 compared to 50% in 2022, according to the monthly report on the energy situation for December 2023 published by the National Observatory of Energy and Mines. Without the Algerian gas royalty, the level of energy independence would be reduced to 38% in 2023, compared to 39% last year. Primary energy resources amount to 4.4 Mtoe in 2023, down 6% compared to the previous year, mainly due to the decline in domestic production of crude oil and natural gas. These resources continue to be dominated by domestic oil and gas production, both accounting for 73% of total primary energy resources. When royalties are taken into account, the primary energy balance showed a deficit of 4.7 Mtoe in 2023, a slight decrease of 1% in 2023 compared to 2022, as a result of the fall in primary energy demand. The structure of primary energy demand did not change. In fact, the share of oil products remaine d almost unchanged at 48% between 2022 and 2023. Similarly, the share of natural gas was almost unchanged at 51% over the same period. 16 permits valid until 2023 The total number of oil and gas permits valid in 2023 is 16, of which 14 are exploration and 2 exploration permits. The total number of concessions is 56, of which 44 are in production. The State participates through ETAP in 34 of these producing concessions and directly in 3 currently valid concessions. A new exploration permit "Boughrara" was awarded in January 2023, while the hydrocarbon exploration permit "El Waha" expired on December 23, 2023. Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

The stock market index closed Wednesday's session on an optimistic note. The Tunindex rose by 8359.98 points on a modest volume of TND 1.5 million, according to the stock market intermediary Tunisie Valeurs. The ALKIMIA share was the best performer of the session. On a volume of TND 14,000, the stock rose by 4.1% to TND 23.710. On the other hand, BNA recorded a 4% increase to TND 7.800. The shares of the state-owned bank gained TND 170,000 during the session. Since the beginning of the year, the stock is down 4.1%. BIAT was the most actively traded stock. Shares of the private bank ended the session on a positive note, rising 0.6% to TND 87.950, adding TND 310,000 to the market. CELLCOM was the session's worst performer. On a trading volume of TND 2,000, the share price fell by 4.5% to TND 1.500 dinars. ARTES was also among the biggest decliners of the session. The car retailer's share price fell by 2.1% to TND 6.160, taking its negative performance since the beginning of the year to -5.2%. Source: Age nce Tunis Afrique Presse