NEWS
Refine time Work has begun on a refinery in Lobito – an $8 billion project that will make Angola self-sufficient in diesel and petrol.
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ngola currently imports about 60 per cent of its transport and heating fuels– a frustrating irony considering the country’s vast offshore oil reserves. Angola needs to import significant clean products because the country has only one refinery, in Luanda, which cannot satisfy national demand. Now, however, Sonangol is building a second one. It is hoped that the new refinery in Lobito will eventually eliminate the need to import refined petroleum products such as diesel, petrol and paraffin.
44 SONANGOL UNIVERSO
A 200-hectare site near the port of Lobito has been chosen for the new refinery. Preliminary work has begun, including the clearance of landmines and the installation of fencing around the perimeter. The refinery will be linked directly to the port, where a new marine off-loading facility is being developed to facilitate the delivery of the building materials. When the project is finished, tankers will bring crude oil from offshore platforms and floating production, storage and off-loading vessels (FPSOs) to crude