Lobito - The Zambian President, Hakainde Hichilema, received this Thursday, in the centre-west Benguela Province, explanations about the Lobito Refinery construction process, under the responsibility of the National Fuel Company (SONANGOL) until new partners are found, ANGOP has learned.
Hakainde Hichilema and his delegation attentively followed all the information on the construction stages, as well as the support infrastructures already in place, which were presented by the project coordinator, Guiomar Correia.
At the time, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of SONANGOL, Sebastião Gaspar Martins, stated that at this stage the company is setting in motion preliminary work to ensure that what has already been done will not be left unused.
“We are conducting engineering work in the United States of America, with the Kirloskar Brothers Limited (KBL, company which started the work), so that by the end of January and beginning of February, we’ll have an idea of the real value of the refinery”, he said.
Sebastião Gaspar Martins estimates that the basic engineering might be completed between April and May 2023 and from that period, they will continue the launching or the identification of partners who will want to join themselves to SONANGOL for the continuity of the investments.
Sebastião Gaspar Martins said that the basic engineering work could be concluded between April and May 2023 and, after that period, the launch or identification of partners willing to join SONANGOL for the continuity of investments will continue.
“We are forecasting that in 2026 we’ll have this project in condition to be able to start processing 200,000 barrels per day”, added the SONANGOL CEO.
On the other hand, the minister of Natural Resources, Oil and Gas, Ventura de Azevedo, thanked President Hakainde Hichilema for being present and thanked Zambia for its interest in wanting to be part of the project.
The official said that Angola is complying with all the crucial rules with quality standards and with costs to be recognised internationally.
The Lobito Refinery is also named SONAREF. It has a coverage area of 3,800 hectares and was designed to produce 200,000 barrels of oil per day.
According to SONANGOL forecasts, 8,000 direct and indirect jobs will be available at this factory.
