Luanda — Angola is complying with the goals it set to increasingly reduce its dependence on import of refined oil products, the head of State João Lourenço said Thursday.
João Lourenço was speaking to the press at inauguration ceremony of the new complex of the Refinery in Luanda, with capacity to produce 1.5 million liters of gasoline per day.
"We are going to reduce, in a considerable way, this trend in the next few years. Above all, from the moment in which we have concluded and put into operation great refinery of Lobito, which will make the country self-sufficient in refined oil", said the Head of state.
Meanwhile, the president João Lourenço highlighted the increase in the production capacity of refined oil in the country, with stress to diesel and gasoline.
He said that the situation was, to a certain extent, incomprehensible, that of a country with a large production of crude oil, had, until very recently, a minimal capacity to transform crude oil.
"We bought the finished product from the same buyers we sold our raw material, like diesel and gasoline", he noted.
President João Lourenço explained that the Executive defined the correction of this situation as a great challenge to be faced, "which is happening not only with the launch of the construction of the Cabinda and Soyo refineries and, now, with the inauguration of this unit, which will expand the gasoline production capacity of the Luanda Refinery by four times".
Foreign exchange savings
The Head of State told the journalists with these investments, the country will manage to save foreign exchange on gasoline imports, not only with the inauguration of this unit, but with the conclusion of other refineries under construction in the country.
"In two or three years from now, I believe that the reduction in terms of foreign exchange expenditures with the import of fuels will be quite large", he stressed.
As for the fuels, especially diesel and gasoline, he said that the great goal is to increase, more and more, the internal production capacity of these products.
"It is a process that will continue because when I referred to the Cabinda, Soyo and Lobito refineries, none of them are still producing, but we believe that in the coming years we will have reached our maximum production capacity for fuel derivatives", predicted the president.
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Export of refined
The President of the Republic raised the possibility that, in the near future, Angola might also start exporting refined oil.
"I believe that the time will come when we will exceed our needs, especially diesel and gasoline, and when we reach this point, indeed, the surplus will be exported and with that we will, on the one hand, save foreign exchange and, on the other , we will stop importing and earn foreign exchange because we are going to export".
Offer more jobs
The President pointed out that an additional gain from the increase in the production of the oil products in the country is the increase in the offer of employment, especially for the youth.
"We are also giving much more jobs to young people in this industry which, although it is considered an industry that does not provide that much employment, but we are going to give a little more than what is currently available", he concluded.
