Luanda - The construction of the Cabinda refinery is in the equipment assembly phase, the engineering and projects director of Angolan oil company Sonangol, Nimbo Virgílio said Tuesday, in Luanda.
Nimbo Virgilio, who was speaking about the crude oil refining projects in Angola, during the second capacity building seminar on oil exploration, said the works of the refinery are more advanced, compared to the refineries in Lobito (Benguela) and Soyo (Zaire).
Virgilio said the progress of the construction of the oil industry in Cabinda comes two months after the arrival of the new equipment to build the infrastructure.
The Cabinda refinery is projected to process 60,000 barrels of crude oil per day, it has Gemcorp as its majority shareholder with 90 percent of the shares, while Sonangol has 10 percent.
The conclusion of the refinery is scheduled for 2024 and will essentially supply the local and regional markets.
Regarding the Lobito Refinery, Nimbo Virgílio said that it is currently in the engineering and partnership building phase and that it is expected to be launched in 2025.
The refinery is expected to produce 200,000 barrels of crude oil/day. The project is aimed to supply domestic and regional markets of the SADC, and it has an open corporate structure giving opportunity to new investors.
Besides Cabinda and Lobito, the country also foresees the Soyo Refinery (Zaire Province), which is in the demining stage (80%) and deforestation phase, in an area of 712 hectares.
With its launch scheduled for 2025, the industry expects to produce 100,000 barrels of oil per day. Its corporate structure is divided into 90% shares of the Quanten and 10% of Sonangol.
According to the Sonangol director of engineering and projects, the existing deficit between supply and demand for refined products in the country will be filled when the construction of the respective three refineries is concluded.
Currently, the country has only the Luanda Refinery for the transformation of crude oil into derivative products.
With a capacity to produce 65,000 barrels/day, the unit was inaugurated on May 3, 1958, at the time with a capacity to process 2,000 barrels/day.
After benefiting from rehabilitation and expansion, the Luanda Refinery has a storage capacity of 580,000 cubic meters (42% crude + 58% refined products).
Currently the industry produces 775,000 metric tons of diesel, which corresponds to 36% of the country's needs, 432,000 of gasoline (35%), 42,000 of butane gas (10%), 130,000 metric tons of Kerosene (illuminating oil) - 100% of market demand - 300 000 of JET-A1 (100%), 1.1 million of fuel oil (100%) and 43 000 of asphalt (38%).
