Angola advances with Soyo refinery in partnership with Transafrica

Uthe company of the Transafrica group, based in Singapore, is Angola's new partner for the Zaire Petrochemical Project, which includes the Soyo refinery to produce fuels from Angolan oil, was announced today.

In a statement sent today to Lusa, the Transafrica group in Angola reports that Transafrica Fund I, managed by Transafrica Capital, a Singapore-based company, and Angolan oil company Sonangol Refining, signed on Wednesday in Luanda, “an agreement of principles for the development of the Zaire Petrochemical Project.

The project has been delayed in terms of funding and the Angolan government has been holding negotiations with Chinese partners, and the agreement with Transafrica, which has received technical support in the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) business process.

According to the information disclosed, the agreement provides for the project to be developed by modules within an “indicative period of about 18 months from the final investment decision”.

The work will be awarded through a public tender and “the investment of the first stage should be in the order of hundreds of millions of dollars”, reads in the press release, stating that “the amount will be defined after the completion of the feasibility study and the tender”.

The first phase will be the construction of the Soyo refinery “to process Angolan crude oil and produce diesel, gasoline and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) primarily intended for the national market, capacity exceeding 20,000 barrels per day”

“The project aims to help reduce the country’s dependence on imported fuels,” adds the source.

The option for modular construction of the Zaire complex “allows manufacturing the main shipyard units, in parallel with the works in Soyo”, according to the parties.

The second phase plans to raise the total refining capacity to about 110,000 barrels per day, with studies focused on the processing of heavy waste.

The configuration will be set together with Sonangol and, among the infrastructures to be studied, include a maritime terminal, pipelines and water and energy supply networks.

The investment of the second phase, in the order of billions of dollars, will depend on the feasibility study, the necessary approvals and the final investment decision, referred to in the statement.

“ The long-term vision, to be built together with Sonangol, is to transform Soyo into an integrated petrochemical park, taking Jurong Island, Singapore as a reference,” he said. The model, he explains, is based on the sharing of infrastructure between industrial units and the use of products from one unit as raw material from another.

This agreement continues the relationship between Transafrica and Sonangol, which has already contributed to the development of the Marina Talatona Condominium in Luanda, still reads in the communicado.

Within the framework of this partnership, Transafrica is willing to set up, together with Sonangol, a training programme with funding for 100 scholarships.

The grants are intended for young Angolan graduates and include training in China in design engineering, construction and management of petrochemical enterprises, says.

Transafrica “also plans to give priority to hiring and training Angolan professionals throughout the project.”.