Sonangol lets contract for Lobito refinery project
Angola’s state-owned Sonangol EP has let a contract to KBR Inc. to provide project management services for the design and construction of the operator’s long-planned proposal to build a new 200,000-b/d refinery in Lobito, Benguela Province (OGJ Online, June 12, 2023).
KBR’s scope of work under the Mar. 14 contract includes delivery of management services covering the entire phase of the grassroots refinery, including engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) phase execution, the service provider said.
KBR said award of the contract follows the service provider’s completion of front-end engineering and design (FEED) for the planned Lobito refinery in early 2023, which entailed a FEED study for the project that meets more-stringent industrial emission standards of 2030 African and European product specifications.
The FEED study also includes KBR’s proprietary design for the proposed refinery’s cooling system that will reduce the manufacturing site’s consumption of river water, as well as lower its wastewater treatment requirements by 30% in line with commitments to the global energy transition to a lower-carbon future, the service provider said.
One of several strategic downstream developments under Angola’s national plan to increase domestic crude processing capacity to help reduce the country’s dependence on refined products imports, encourage increased foreign investment, and create employment opportunities for Angolans, the previously stalled Lobito refinery project was restarted for development in 2017 following a temporary suspension in 2016 (OGJ Online, Dec. 3, 2018).
Once operable, the Lobito refinery will increase Angola’s capacity to produce its own domestic fuels by 200%, KBR said.
Ongoing Lobito development
In its most recently published annual report, Sonangol confirmed renewed activities on the project have included updating an earlier-executed FEED study for the refinery, which will be built on 3,800 hectares about 8 km northwest of Lobito. FEED update works also included:
- Preparation of technical deliverables and definition of the proposed refinery’s 3D model.
- Preparation of the project’s early-FEED book.
- Preparation of an official preliminary project cost estimate.
- Preparation of the invitation-to-bid package for a main EPC contractor.
- Analysis, approval of unidentified technical documents prepared by KBR Inc.
- Completion, issuance of a final FEED update package.
During 2022, Sonangol also began unidentified structural works at the proposed refinery’s site, as well as signed contracts with OECI SA (formerly known as Odebrecht Engenharia e Construção Internacional SA) and Dar Al-Handasah Consultants Shair and Partners Holdings Ltd. (Dar Group) for preliminary EPC works.
Following a preliminary agreement between the parties In June 2023, Sonangol awarded a formal contract to China National Chemical Engineering Co. Ltd. (CNCEC) in October 2023 for delivery of EPC on the refinery, which will take 40 months to complete from the start of construction, the operator said in a release on Oct. 20, 2023.
In a Feb. 23 corporate presentation on yearend 2023 activities, Sonangol said physical execution works on the Lobito refinery had reached 2%. The operator also said it was in the process of consolidating technical studies for possible integration of petrochemicals at the project.
A definitive timeline for when official construction works on the Lobito refinery will begin has yet to be revealed.
Angolan refining updates
Sonangol also confirmed in February that it completed installation last year of a new platforming unit at its 65,000-b/d Luanda refinery to increase the site’s production of gasoline for the domestic market by 162% from 2022, resulting in a $242-million reduction in Angola’s product imports (OGJ Online, June 6, 2019).
In addition, the operator said it expects to complete construction of Phase 1 of its previously announced 60,000-b/d greenfield refinery on the Malembo plain, 30 km north of Cabinda, in Angola’s province of Cabinda, by yearend 2024 (OGJ Online, Nov. 16, 2020).
As of February 2024, physical execution works for the Cabinda refinery’s first 30,000-b/d phase stood at 49%, Sonangol said.
The operator additionally confirmed development of a 100,000-b/d grassroots refinery in Soyo, Zaire Province remains ongoing. As of February 2024, negotiations were underway with KBR and unidentified technology licensors for execution of the Soyo project’s FEED study (OGJ Online, Mar. 17, 2021).
Robert Brelsford | Downstream Editor
Robert Brelsford joined Oil & Gas Journal in October 2013 as downstream technology editor after 8 years as a crude oil price and news reporter on spot crude transactions at the US Gulf Coast, West Coast, Canadian, and Latin American markets. He holds a BA (2000) in English from Rice University and an MS (2003) in education and social policy from Northwestern University.
