Africa-Press – Angola. The Angolan Sonangol company will soon build a cooking gas cylinder factory, in the municipality of Soyo, Zaire province, to improve efficiency in the domestic gas distribution system in Angola, the Minister of Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas, Diamantino Azevedo, announced on Friday in Luanda.
According to the Minister, the investment of around four million dollars aims to facilitate access to cooking gas for a greater number of families in the country, reduce any shortage in the national market, as well as diversify the portfolio of the national concessionaire.
The announcement was made today during an interactive dialogue with the journalist class in the country’s capital, which served to present an overview of the main actions developed and project the coming years.
Regarding Sonangol’s initiative, the Secretary of State for oil, José Barroso, clarified that this project should be carried out by the private sector, but “there was not enough interest” and the state oil company will start, with the prospect of arousing the interest of the business class.
In this regard, he highlighted that Sonagás is finalizing the construction of a new gas cylinder filling terminal, to improve the entire gas distribution system in Angola.
“We need new gas cylinders because, unfortunately, handling them causes us to lose many cylinders every year, hence the need to embrace this initiative”, he highlighted.
The Secretary of State also encouraged the private sector to join this segment, which represents a business opportunity in Angola.
When answering journalists’ questions, the minister highlighted the advances made by the sector in the legislative and regulatory field and in improving the business environment, which has allowed attracting more private investment to Angola.
On the occasion, the government official recalled that Angola’s exit from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) aimed to maintain the production defined in its Government program.
“Angola did not leave OPEC to increase production, but rather to not lower the quota and jeopardize its goals, that was the only reason for leaving”, he explained.
He also said that the country remains within the defined margin, above one million barrels of oil per day.
On the other hand, he mentioned that the construction process of the oil refineries in Cabina, Soyo and Lobito continues, with the construction of the latter at around 23%.
In the training chapter, he highlighted the partnership with the Agostinho Neto and Católica universities, announcing that the National Petroleum Institute (INP) will soon become a Higher Institute.
As for the diamond subsector, he reiterated that, in 2024, Angola reached a historic record, surpassing the 14 million carat barrier.
Diamantino Azevedo explained that this production was driven by intense aerial geophysical prospecting work, which identified around 20 new kimberlitic targets in the province of Lunda-Norte.
He stated that this work has increased, in recent years, the amount of employability in this sector, which already has more than 30 thousand employees.
In this area, he highlighted that, until 2017, the Angolan workforce was 70%, a percentage that rose to more than 87%, although at the top of the leadership the ratio was still very low.
The meeting labeled as “breakfast with journalists and opinion makers” was attended by more than 50 professionals, including journalists, commentators and opinion makers.
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