Page 12 - DMEA Week 17 2020

DMEA REFINING DMEA
Equatorial Guinea, Marathon choose Vfuels for modular refinery study
EQUATORIAL GUINEA
The government of Equatorial Guinea and Marathon Oil (US) have chosen a contractor
for a study of plans to construct a modular oil refinery.
THE government of Equatorial Guinea and Marathon Oil (US) have chosen a contractor for a study of plans to construct a modular oil refinery.
The Equatoguinean Ministry of Mines and Hydrocarbons (MMH) said last week that it had joined with Marathon, its strategic partner, in naming Houston-based Vfuels to carry out the study. The contract provides for Vfuels to pro- vide engineering and design services for a 5,000 barrel per day (bpd) refinery in Punta Europa on Bioko Island. The proposed plant would produce petroleum products for domestic consumption.
MMH and Marathon have not yet revealed the value of the contract. They have indicated, though, that they expect Vfuels to complete the study within 12 weeks.
The refinery will be built on the site of a meth- anol plant owned by Atlantic Methanol Produc- tion Co. Last December, MMH issued orders for the dismantling of the facility in preparation for its conversion into a modular oil-processing plant. The following month, it struck an agree- ment with Marathon on a study of the modular refining project and a separate study of metha- nol-based gasoline and its derivatives.
Marathon owns a 45% stake in Atlantic
Methanol Production Co. The remaining equity in the plant is split between Noble Energy (US), with 45%, and Equatorial Guinea’s state-owned natural gas company Sociedad Nacional de Gas de GE (Sonagas), with 10%.
Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima, the head of MMH, noted last week that the refinery project fell within the framework of the Equatoguinean government’s Year of Investment 2020 initiative. The programme also includes plans to seek fund- ing for methanol-related projects and the con- struction of storage facilities on the country’s continental territory, he said.
These projects will help Equatorial Guinea ensure adequate supplies of high-quality fuel to the domestic market, he added. “This is an important step when it comes to implement- ing this project with an important goal to pre- vent stock-outs and provide refined products of higher quality to economic operators and the general public,” he commented.
When finished, the refinery will be part of the Punta Europa oil and gas complex near Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea. The complex also includes a gas liquefaction plant that turns out LNG, gas-processing facilities and a gas-fired thermal power plant (TPP). ™
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Week 17 30•April•2020