Tender for investment in Lobito refinery project in Angola launched

The government of Angola has launched tender for investment in Lobito refinery. Oil Minister Diamantino Azevedo, officiated the launch and said interested parties have four months to present their proposals to the National Fuel Society (Sonangol).

The country is looking to break its dependence on oil imports. In 2019, Angola imported US $1.7bn worth of fuel. Angola currently has a daily production of 1.2 million barrels of crude oil, a volume that could change in the near future as new fields come on line.

Lobito refinery, located in Benguela province has been at a standstill since 2016. So far economic feasibility study, the dredging of Lobito bay, preparation of terraces, heavy load road pipeline and some support infrastructures have been carried out.

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Tender requirements

The project is expected to process up to 200,000 barrels per day when completed. It will further provide 8,000 direct and indirect jobs in the construction phase and other 4.000 in the production phase, thus contributing to reduction of unemployment rate in the country.

Interested companies are required to include the company’s financial and technical capacity and a track record in terms of investments in similar projects. According to the proposed corporate governance structure, private investors will own 70% of the company, with state oil firm Sonangol controlling 30% stake.

“Our perspective is to have, first, enough capacity to supply the internal market, but also additional capacity so that we can export essentially to the countries in the region. There is an outflow of oil derivatives from Angola to the Democratic Republic of Congo, so it is an interesting market. We have been working with our counterparts in the DRC to make the relationship more fruitful for our countries. Already in relation to Zambia, there is a proposal by the Zambian government to study the feasibility of a pipeline from Lobito,” said Diamantino Azevedo.