Africa-Press – Angola. The Zambian President, Hakainde Hichilema, received, this Thursday, in Benguela, explanations on the construction process of the Lobito Refinery, undertaken by the National Fuel Society (SONANGOL), until new partners are found.
Hakainde Hichilema and his delegation closely followed the information on the construction stages, as well as the existing support infrastructures, presented by the project coordinator, Guiomar Correia.
On the occasion, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of SONANGOL, Sebastião Gaspar Martins, stated that at this stage the company is putting in progress the preliminary work that will allow what has already been done to continue to be used.
“We are conducting the engineering work in the United States of America, with the company KBL (which started the work), so that by the end of January, beginning of February, we can have an idea of the real value of the Refinery”, he clarified.
The PCA estimated that all the basic engineering will be completed between April and May 2003 and from then on, continue with the launch or identification of partners who want to join SONANGOL, in the continuity of investments.
“We are predicting that in 2026 we will have this project in conditions to be able to start processing 200 thousand barrels per day”, he predicted.
On the other hand, the Minister of Natural Resources, Oil and Gas, Ventura de Azevedo, thanked the presence of President Hakainde Hichilema and Zambia’s interest in wanting to be part of the project.
He guaranteed that Angola is following all the essential rules, with quality standards and costs that are internationally recognized.
The Lobito Refinery, also known as SONAREF, is located 35 kilometers northwest of the city of Benguela and five kilometers from Lobito. It has a coverage area of 3,800 hectares and was designed to produce 200,000 barrels of oil per day.
Eight thousand direct and indirect jobs will be available at that factory, according to calculations by SONANGOL.
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