Page 11 - DMEA Week 28 2022
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DMEA REFINING DMEA
OEC installs Cabinda distillation tower
AFRICA BRAZILIAN contractor Odebrecht Engenharia to be incorporated into the refinery. In parallel,
e Construção (OEC) this week announced that several civil and electromechanical works are
it has installed the distillation tower at the 60,000 underway [that are] indispensable to the oper-
barrel per day (bpd) refinery in Angola’s Cabinda ation of the Cabinda Refinery.”
exclave. According to plans announced in October
In a statement issued via LinkedIn, the com- 2020, the refinery will be built in three stages
pany said: “We set up the distillation tower of the with the 30,000 bpd first stage to include the
Cabinda Refinery, the most important equip- CDU, a kerosene treatment facility and storage
ment of the project. At 26 metres high and more tanks that can hold up to 1.2mn barrels of oil. The
than 70 tonnes in weight, this tower has the second and third stages will involve doubling the
capacity to process 30,000 bpd.” plant’s capacity and adding pipelines a catalytic
The refinery is being constructed by reformer, a hydrotator and a catalytic cracking
UK-based Gemcorp Capital on the Malembo unit. Gemcorp envisages the first phase costing
plain, around 30 km north of the provincial cap- around $220mn, with the remaining $700mn of
ital, and is expected to produce gasoline, diesel, the budgeted amount split across phases two and
fuel oil and Jet A1. three.
Gemcorp holds a 90% stake in the $920mn Earlier this year, Angolan President João
project alongside state-owned Sonangol Refin- Lourenço said that the refinery’s output will cater
ing (Sonaref), with the British firm responsible to the needs of the Cabinda province, with any
for the cost of construction. surplus to be exported to neighbouring Congo
OEC is also carrying out construction work (Kinshasa).
on a crude distillation unit (CDU) under a con- Cabinda is the smallest of three refining
tract awarded by Gemcorp last year. The state- projects that are expected to turn the country
ment said: “The remaining equipment of the from a net importer of refined products into an
CDU arrives in Angola in the coming weeks, exporter.
FUELS
Momentum builds behind Kogi biofuel plant
AFRICA A delegation from the Nigerian National Petro- region. Given Nigeria’s struggles with infrastruc-
leum Corp. (NNPC) Ltd visited Kogi State this ture vandalism and product theft, gaining buy-in
week as plans formalise around the development and support from local populations is also likely
of a new biofuel plant. to yield security benefits.
Part of NNPC’s broader Automotive Biofuels Meanwhile, the model aligns with a recent
Programme, the plant will process sugarcane to spate of decentralised developments in the
produce ethanol for use as transportation fuel. It downstream. Three modular refineries – in
will be located at Ike-Bunu in the Kabba/Bunu Delta, Imo and Rivers states – currently account
local government area in Kogi. for the country’s full refining slate, with NNPC’s
State governor Yahaya Bello received an three refining facilities all offline for major reha-
NNPC delegation led by general manager Dr bilitation work.
Funmilola Ale, who highlighted progress put- However, Niger Delta Petroleum Resources
ting together the project group. (NDPR, 1,000 barrels per day), Waltersmith
A deal for the facility’s establishment was Refining & Petrochemical Co. (5,000 bpd)
signed between NNPC, CONTEC Global and OPAC Refineries (10,000 bpd) have each
Energy and the Kogi stage government in 2017. complained about struggles obtaining crude
However, during this week’s meeting, Bello feedstock from NNPC as the state giant sells
pressed for the host community to be given an upstream oil production on export markets.
equity share in the project. He said that compen- These units will soon be joined by the 2,500
sation for land acquisition should not be the local bpd Duport Midstream Co. refinery in Edo State,
community’s only benefit from the development which is due to be launched by the end of July,
of the project. with the support of the Nigerian Content Devel-
Bello added that giving the community a opment and Monitoring Board (NCDMB),
stake in the plant means it will derive long-term which also holds a 30% stake in the Waltersmith
benefits and support further development of the facility.
Week 28 14•July•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P11
