Africa-Press – Angola. The Angolan Minister of Mineral Resources, Petroleum and Gas, Diamantino de Azevedo, stated Tuesday (2) in Lobito that the construction of the local refinery is around 20 percent complete.
The minister, who has been in Benguela province since Monday, visited the Lobito Refinery, touring various areas such as the administrative complex, access roads to production points, pipelines (pipes that transport crude oil), terraces, tanks, the water intake area, among others.
In brief statements to journalists, Diamantino de Azevedo spoke about the advantages that the unit will bring to the country, considering the Lobito Corridor, which, in his view, will be very important for the sector.
“With the refinery completed, we intend to export some of the products we have here using the Benguela Railway, hence the strategic importance of the province,” he emphasized.
He also revealed the existence of some oil blocks off the coast of the province, still in the prospecting phase, but the sector hopes that some of them may enter production in the future.
He also mentioned having discussed aspects of the province’s mining sector with Governor Manuel Nunes Júnior.
“We exchanged ideas on what can continue to be done in the province, since we have cement plants located there, and this is essentially mineral resources: limestone, iron, clay, and gypsum,” he pointed out.
He informed that prospecting for other minerals is also underway. “This work falls within a risky and long-term phase, but we have some minerals to be prospected here and we will see if some of them will turn into mines.”
In turn, the refinery’s project director, Guiomar Correia, spoke to the press about the progress of the work, namely the advancement in engineering, the procurement of equipment and materials being manufactured abroad.
“This set of activities, not only on the construction site but in other parts of the world, is more or less aligned with our plan to reach the final objective, which is to deliver the refinery in 2027,” she explained.
Referring to the works on the construction site, she highlighted the existence of thirteen crude oil tanks, as well as five spheres for derivatives that are in the finishing phase.
“We have other civil construction actions underway, such as foundations.” “The work that goes underneath is usually the most complex, because it takes longer; these are the ones we are finishing up,” she stated.
Guiomar Correia also highlighted the work to divert the course of the Catumbela River, which began in May 2024 and will supply the refinery with water.
She added that the next step will be the metal-mechanical part, that is, the construction of the operating apparatus itself.
When questioned about the workforce at that unit, she said that the refinery, also known as Sonaref, currently has 2,600 workers, of which more than 80 percent are national and the majority are local.
“We expect that next year we will reach the peak in our company and then we will quadruple the number of workers,” she added.
Lobito Refinery Timeline
The Lobito Refinery, located ten kilometers from the city center, in an area of approximately 3,805 hectares, was designed to To produce 200,000 barrels of oil per day. Earthmoving work began in 2012 and ended in 2016. The project was optimized from 2018 to 2021, and updated from 2018 to 2022.
Construction began in 2023 and is currently underway, with a completion deadline of 2027.
For More News And Analysis About Angola Follow Africa-Press
