Africa-Press – Angola. The Namibian deputy minister of Mines and Energy, Kornelia Shilunga, learned this Tuesday, in Lobito (Benguela), about the potential of oil companies Sonaref (Refinery), Sonamet and Angoflex.
According to the Secretary of State for Oil and Gas, José Alexandre Barroso, this visit follows a memorandum of understanding signed by Angola and Namibia in this sector.
Its main objective is the exchange of experience between the two countries, since Angola has been a producer of oil and gas for many years and Namibia recently had a discovery of this product in its territory.
“We respond to Namibia’s appeal to use the experience gained over the years in research and production, for a joint journey, which will allow interaction not only at the level of our governments, but also of public and private institutions for a strong oil industry “, said the Secretary of State.
At Sonaref, the delegation verified the project’s configuration, the interconnection between the infrastructures and their functionality, as well as the company’s objectives and goals, according to coordinator Guiomar Correira.
“Right now, we are finalizing some infrastructure such as the maritime terminal, roads and terraces, to accommodate the factory itself and move on to another stage”, he explained.
The Lobito Refinery has a projected production capacity of 200,000 barrels/day and will employ around 8,000 workers.
With regard to Sonamet, a producer of metallic structures, the delegation, in addition to the shipyard, visited the “Paulo Teixeira Jorge” Training School, where it received detailed information on various activities implemented at the factory.
This department trains specialists in welding, boilermaking, quality and control, environment, safety and hygiene at work.
He also visited Angoflex, where he received information about the manufacturing process, storage and delivery of umbilicals.
Angoflex is the only factory in Angola and Africa specialized in umbilicals. At the moment it is stopped due to lack of projects.
Since 2003 to date, he has produced around 24 projects for clients such as Total, British Petroleum (BP) and ENI. The only export carried out by the company was the Mirakes project, at the end of 2020, sent to Malaysia.
At the end of the visit, the deputy minister made it known that her country is very interested in exchanging experiences with Angola, stating that she will explain to her government about the level of development she found.
“The partnership that we want to establish in the oil sector will not only be beneficial for Angola and Namibia, but for the region, as SADC is interested in regional integration”, he underlined.
He made a point of highlighting Angola’s political support from the armed struggle to Namibia’s achievement of independence.
Kornelia Shilunga was accompanied by her ambassador, Patrick Nandogo, and some senior technicians from her ministry.
On the Angolan side, there was the Secretary of State for Oil and Gas, José Alexandre Barroso, and the Deputy Governor of Benguela for the technical area and infrastructures, Adilson Gonçalves, representing Governor Luís Nunes.
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