Page 10 - DMEA Week 18 2022

DMEA REFINING DMEA

Angola tests Cabinda refinery equipment

AFRICA AN Angolan delegation visited Houston this can hold up to 1.2mn barrels of oil. The sec-
week to inspect equipment due to be used in a ond and third stages will involve doubling the
planned refinery in the African country’s north- plant’s capacity and adding, pipelines a catalytic
ern Cabinda exclave. reformer, a hydrotator and a catalytic cracking
Delegates included representatives of state unit.
oil firm Sonangol and the Ministry of Mineral Following a 2020 final investment decision
Resources, Oil and Gas (MIREMPET), led by (FID), Gemcorp envisages the first phase costing
Minister Diamantino Azevedo. They oversaw around $220mn, with the remaining $700mn of
the successful factory acceptance test of equip- the budgeted amount split across phases two and
ment including a modular crude distillation three.
unit (CDU) at facilities owned by US firm VFu- The British firm holds a 90% stake in the pro-
els, which is the lead equipment provider for the ject and will be responsible for the cost of con-
project leader, UK-based Gemcorp Capital. struction, while Sonangol owns the balance of
The CDU has a capacity of 30,000 barrels per equity.
day (bpd), making it the largest VFuels has ever
built. LNG tax break
A team of Sonangol technicians has been Angola’s secretary of state for oil and gas José
stationed in Texas to monitor the prepara- Barroso announced this week that the country’s
tion of this equipment. In a statement to local gas export facility is to be granted a tax break as
media, the Angolan delegation said: “The Fac- Luanda seeks to maintain utilisation of the plant
tory Acceptance Test verifies and certifies that against concerning forecasts about the availabil-
the equipment produced and packaged meets ity of domestic gas.
the functionality and objectives defined, before “It is requested that this company be exon-
delivery at the destination.” erated from fulfilling” obligations to pay tax on
The first shipments of equipment for the facil- revenues generated from purchased gas, accord-
ity are expected to begin arriving in mid-June. ing to Barroso. He noted that a 30% discount had
The Cabinda refinery, which will have a been requested for Angola LNG’s second phase
capacity of 60,000 bpd, is being built on the of operations.
Malembo plan, around 30 km north of the pro- “Everything is being done so that Angola
vincial capital. It is slated to produce gasoline, LNG, by changing its regime, to buy gas and thus
diesel, residual fuel oil and jet fuel. facilitate exports, is not harmed and its project
According to plans announced in October continues to be economically and financially
2020, the refinery will be built in three stages viable,” he said, adding that the plant is fed with
with the first stage including the CDU, a kero- associated gas, flows of which are seen declining
sene treatment facility and storage tanks that in line with falling oil production.™

P10 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 18 05•May•2022