Page 9 - DMEA Week 08 2021

DMEA REFINING DMEA

Brazzaville kicks off refinery project

CONGO-BRAZ. CONGO (Brazzaville) has embarked on a pro- export markets.
ject to develop a modular oil refinery in the According to senior BFDI official Sen Shao,
Pointe Noire Special Economic Zone (SEZ) fol- the “refinery will be able to come into operation
lowing the launch of construction by President by 2023”, noting that it would meet increas-
Denis Sassou Nguesso. ing demand domestically and from Congo’s
The Atlantic Petrochemical Refinery facility neighbours.
is being built in partnership between the Con- The Congolaise de Raffinage (CORAF)
golese government and China’s Beijing Fortune unit, also located in Pointe Noire, is currently
Dingsheng Investment Co. (BFDI) following a the country’s only existing refinery. The facil-
$600mn deal concluded in November. ity, which was built in 1982, has a throughput
According to BFDI president Li Yonghong: capacity of 20,000 bpd, but Downstream MEA
“It is a modular refinery with a nominal process- (DMEA) understands from its state oil firm
ing capacity of 2.5mn tonnes per year [50,000 operator SNPC that the refinery is currently only
barrels per day]. This capacity could be increased capable of processing 18,442 bpd and actual uti-
if needed.” lisation is more like 12,000 bpd.
There has been inconsistency in reporting Turnaround maintenance (TAM) is due to be
the size of the planned unit; however, presum- carried out at the unit this year.
ing that the total anticipated cost is $600mn, this Congo (Brazzaville) produces around
is broadly consistent with acceptable costs for a 205,000 bpd of crude, with demand is estimated
50,000 bpd refinery. at around 25,000 bpd. Product shortfalls have
However, the Congolese government has been both problematic and costly for Brazzaville.
refused to comment on its share of costs. During the launch ceremony, Congolese
In the first core refining phase, a 50,000 bpd hydrocarbons minister Jean-Marc Thystère
unit will be constructed to run on Congo (Braz- Tchicaya said: “The refinery will produce auto-
zaville) Djeno Light crude. motive and aviation gasoline, LPG, diesel, lubri-
An optional second full-conversion phase, cants, bitumen, kerosene and other products.”
seen kicking off in late 2022, would more than He added that the new unit is “an important
double throughput to around 110,000 bpd, link in the diversification of the economy in the
running on heavier crude grades and targeting hydrocarbons sector”.™

Week 08 25•February•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P9