Page 8 - DMEA Week 08 2021

DMEA REFINING DMEA

Angola gives incentives for Cabinda refinery

ANGOLA ANGOLAN legislators have voiced strong sup- and Zaire provinces, as well as the upgrade of an
port for the government’s plans to reduce the existing facility in Luanda.
country’s dependence on imported petroleum The total cost of constructing the Cabinda
products. According to the state news agency, plant, which will have a design capacity of
members of the National Assembly voted unani- 60,000 barrels per day (bpd), is expected to
mously last week to approve legislation designed reach $920mn. Angola’s national oil company
to build up the domestic refining industry. (NOC) and its contractor Gemcorp (UK) made
The bill in question authorises Angolan a final investment decision (FID) on the project
authorities to offer special incentives for the last October, saying that they intend to build the
construction of the Cabinda refinery. More facility in stages. The first stage will involve the
specifically, it permits President João Lourenço construction of a crude distillation unit with a
to grant administrative and fiscal concessions capacity of 30,000 bpd, as well as storage tanks
to companies involved in the building of this that can hold up to 1.2mn barrels of oil, while the
oil-processing plant. second and third stages will involve doubling the
Angola’s state press agency did not say plant’s capacity and adding secondary process-
whether the president was considering any ing facilities.
specific concessions with respect to the refin- According to Azevedo, the Cabinda refin-
ery project. It did quote Petroleum and Min- ery and the other facilities covered by the pro-
eral Resources Minister Diamantino Azevedo gramme will allow Angola to use more of its
as saying, though, that the Cabinda facility was own crude oil to meet domestic fuel demand.
being built within the framework of a wider Currently, he noted, the country only produces
programme that also provided for building enough refined fuels to cover 20% of current
additional oil-processing plants in Benguela consumption levels.™

NCDMB takes 30% stake in modular refinery

NIGERIA NIGERIA’S National Content Development The modular refinery’s first phase was com-
Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has said it is missioned last November. It will be capable
investing in a small-scale oil-refining project led of turning out 27mn litres per year of diesel
by a local company, Waltersmith Petroman Oil fuel, kerosene, naphtha and residual fuel oil
Ltd. Simbi Wabote, the executive secretary of for domestic consumption. The second phase,
the board, recently confirmed that NCDMB had which may be completed by late 2022, will be
taken a 30% stake in the first stage of the modular able to produce gasoline, aviation fuel and LPG.
refinery that Waltersmith has built at the Ibigwe Wabote and Isa were speaking shortly before
field in Imo State. The government agency has the head of Nigeria’s Department of Petroleum
paid $10mn for its minority holding in this pro- Resources (DPR) expressed support for the con-
ject, which encompassed the construction of a struction of more modular oil refineries.
plant with a throughput capacity of 5,000 barrels Sarki Auwalu, the director and CEO of DPR,
per day (bpd), he told Africa Oil & Gas Report. told reporters last week that he believed small-
Wabote stressed, though, that NCDMB scale refineries could help improve fuel supplies
would be a transitional investor. This means on the domestic market. The agency is currently
that the board will no longer have a stake once considering proposals for the construction of 38
first-phase work on the plant is completed, he modular refineries with throughput capacities
explained. ranging from 5,000 bpd to 30,000 bpd, he noted.
But he also said that NCDMB was interested Auwalu also described modular projects as a
enough in the project that it hoped to play a role good alternative to the illegal refining endeav-
in the construction of the modular refinery’s ours that have plagued the country’s oil-produc-
second stage. “Yes, we will continue,” he said. He ing regions, saying that above-board projects
described Waltersmith as a satisfactory partner, had a better chance of creating jobs and bene-
saying that the company had “done what they fitting local communities. “DPR is a business
said they would do, and we are happy with them.” enabler and opportunity provider. We create the
For his part, Waltersmith’s board chairman business of oil and gas and ensure that it is sus-
Abdulrasaq Isa told Africa Oil & Gas Report that tained,” he declared. “I am calling on Nigerians to
he expected to work with NCDMB on the next come invest in this sector, bring more. The sector
stage of the project, which will bring the mod- has been the risk, and if you’re afraid that you
ular refinery’s capacity up to 25,000 bpd. “Yes, can’t refine, don’t go and [make an] illegal refin-
they are working with us on the second phase,” ery. Come and do legal refining, and we are ready
he said. to give you [a] licence.”™

P8 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 08 25•February•2021