Page 8 - DMEA Week 07 2023
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DMEA REFINING DMEA
Tests at Cabinda refinery
to begin in December
ANGOLA THE developer of Angola’s Cabinda refinery said estimated at $920mn, with the first phase pre-
this week that the project is expected to be com- viously quoted at $220mn. The refinery is being
pleted by the end of the year, with test runs due constructed around 30km north of the provin-
to begin in mid-December. cial capital and is expected to produce gasoline,
Speaking during a press conference last week, diesel, fuel oil and Jet A1. The first stage com-
Marcus Weyll, director general of UK-based prises a crude distillation unit (CDU), a kerosene
Gemcorp, said that his company is committed to treatment facility and storage tanks that can hold
commissioning the refinery’s first phase during up to 1.2mn barrels of oil.
Q4, and will swiftly move forward with work on Brazilian contractor Odebrecht Engenharia
the second and third phases. First crude test runs e Construção (OEC) installed the distillation
will begin in the first half of December, he added. tower at the site on the Malembo Plain, adjacent
Weyll was speaking following a site visit by to the Malongo oilfield in the Cabinda exclave.
Angolan Minister of Mineral Resources, Petro- In a statement issued via LinkedIn, the com-
leum and Gas, Diamantino Azevedo, while the pany said: “We set up the distillation tower of the
presentation and visit were also attended by Cabinda Refinery, the most important equip-
Secretary of State for Petroleum, José Barroso, ment of the project. At 26 metres high and more
the CEOs of Sonangol, Sebastião Martins, of the than 70 tons in weight, this tower has the capac-
National Agency for Mineral Resources, Jacinto ity to process 30,000 [barrels per day (bpd)].”
Rocha, and of the National Oil and Gas Agency, Gemcorp noted last week that most of the
Paulino Gerónimo. tanks have also arrived in the province for instal-
The Gemcorp representative said that at 30% lation. Following the subsequent second and
complete, the physical works are behind sched- third phases, which will add pipelines a catalytic
ule owing to supply chain and market volatility reformer, a hydrotator and a catalytic cracking
issues relating to the Covid-19. unit, the facility is expected to have a throughput
This appears to have taken its toll on the capacity of 60,000 bpd.
cost of implementing the project, which Weyll In early 2022, Angolan President João
quoted $400mn for phase one out of an overall Lourenço said that the refinery’s output will cater
estimate of $1bn covering the remaining two to the needs of the Cabinda province with any
phases. surplus to be exported to neighbouring Congo
Gemcorp holds a 90% stake in the pro- (Kinshasa). Cabinda is the smallest of three
ject alongside state-owned Sonangol Refining refining projects that are expected to turn the
(Sonaref) with the British firm responsible for country from a net importer of refined products
the cost of construction. This was previously to an exporter.
P8 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 07 16•February•2023
