Angola’s national oil company, Sonangol Group, announced that Gemcorp, a trade and investment group in emerging markets, in alignment with the national oil company, took the final investment decision for the construction of the Cabinda Refinery project.
The refinery, which will be built near Malembo in Angola, 30 kilometers north of the capital of Cabinda, will be the first private investment of this nature in Angola, and will use the latest North American technology for its design, operation and development in 3 phases, with adherence to the Equator Principles.
The first phase of the Project is expected to include a 30,000-barrel/day Crude Distillation Unit, with a desalinator, kerosene treatment and auxiliary infrastructure, including a conventional float-anchoring system, pipelines and storage facility for more than 1.2 million barrels. First phase expenses are approximately $220. The 2nd and 3rd phases will turn the Cabinda Refinery into a total conversion refinery, with an additional refining capacity of 30,000 barrels per day and the installation of a new catalytic reformer, hydrotreater and catalytic cracking unit, which should total $700 million.
The formal construction of the site started in March 2020, with the complete clearing and preparation of the land, completed in August 2020. The site fence started in September 2020 for 313 hectares of land. The main long-term items were ordered in early November 2020 and the Refinery is expected to start operating in the first quarter of 2022. The project will create approximately 2,000 direct and indirect jobs for the community, sustaining and supporting local and national economies. These opportunities cover the areas of construction, engineering, logistics, security and administration. Once operational, the Refinery will also contribute to the sovereign energy security of Angola, reducing its dependence on the import of refined products, as well as increasing their exports with higher margins.