Luanda — Sonangol has announced plans for the opening of opportunities to expand exports of the oil by-products in the Southern African market, after the completion of refineries under construction in the country.

The chairman of the Sonangol Executive Committee, Joaquim Kiteculo, said that the expansion of the market started in 2020, when South Africa began to dismantle the first four refineries that existed in the country.

The process of dismantlement of refineries is still in progress in that country, at a time it plans to dismantle six more refineries, which will force the South Africa to resort to import oil derivatives.

Angola predicts a total processing capacity of 425,000 barrels of refined oil per day, with the implementation of the Cabinda, Soyo, Lobito and Luanda refineries, the last of which is already operational, after it was expanded and its production capacity increased.

Kiteculo told the radio programme Ngol, run by the national oil company, that of the 425,000 barrels of refined products to be processed, 225,000 barrels would be for domestic consumption and 200,000 to be reserved for export, particularly to the Southern African region , covering countries such as Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Botswana, Tanzania and Namibia, countries where fuel is not subsidised.

Ongoing work

The Soyo refinery, whose total investment is estimated at US$3.5 billion, is due to be concluded in 2025, when it will start processing 100,000 barrels of oil per day.

The Cabinda refinery, with capacity to process 30,000 barrels per day, the first phase of construction work is due to be concluded in December of this year.

The Lobito refinery, with five proposals for investment, plans to process over 200,000 barrels of oil per day, and is the largest of the three under construction.NE/AC