Africa-Press – Angola. The President of the Republic, João Lourenço, highlighted, this Monday, the strategic importance of the Barra do Dande Ocean Terminal (TOBD) and the refineries under construction in the country, which will contribute to the export of petroleum derivatives.
When speaking to the press, at the end of the inspection visit to the works of the Barra do Dando Ocean Terminal, which are currently completed in the order of 63 percent, the Head of State indicated that the Executive’s policy is to export, preferably products refined products and not just crude oil.
“This infrastructure arises, precisely, not only to ensure that there is no shortage of refined products for consumption in the country, but also to have a greater supply of refined products for export”, he stated.
The President highlighted the importance of completing works on the Barra do Danda Ocean Terminal and the Lobito (Benguela) and Soyo (Zaire) refineries, “because one produces and the other stores”.
According to the Head of State, these projects are of great strategic value for the country, “because today we talk about energy security and to have energy security you need to have a guarantee of energy production, on the one hand, and on the other, have a large fuel storage capacity”.
President João Lourenço highlighted that “the country has happily woken up” and is building refineries.
“It is incomprehensible that a country like ours, as the second largest oil producer south of the Sahara, after Nigeria, only had the Luanda refinery as the only refining unit, therefore, at a good time we took the decision to create capacity to refine a good part of the crude oil that we explore”, he pointed out.
In addition to the Lobito refinery, the President of the Republic said that the Cabinda refinery will also appear, whose opening date is scheduled for the end of next year, the same time as the completion of the TOBD works.
Regarding the Soyo refinery, the Head of State said that work will start at any moment.
“In the Lobito refinery, which we have already resumed, and if we do not have budgetary constraints, what remains to be done is something that will be done in around three years”, said João Lourenço, who expressed satisfaction with the level of execution of the Barra do Dande Ocean Terminal works.
“The level of execution of the works is satisfactory and the work will finish in principle within a year, we are thinking of opening in November of next year, the month of independence, although the indications we have received are that the work will finish long before the month of November of next year”, he noted.
He assured that there was money to complete the TOBD. Resources are secured.
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