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Angola's Cabinda oil refinery to start up by April, Gemcorp CEO says

Angola's Cabinda oil refinery is set to start production by April, as it finishes its very first stage simply ahead of schedule but over spending plan, the CEO of Gemcorp Holdings Minimal, the job's greatest shareholder, told Reuters on Tuesday.

The refinery will be commissioned in January-February, with its very first products of fuels reaching the regional market in March-April, Atanas Bostandjiev, founder and chief executive of Gemcorp, stated on the sidelines of the Financial Times Africa Summit. The company owns 90% of the refinery.

The brand-new job, which will be Angola's 2nd oil refinery, will assist make sub-Saharan Africa's No. 2 oil manufacturer less reliant on costly fuel imports, especially as Angola aims to eliminate fuel aids.

Investment for the first stage reached about $500. million-$ 550 million, Bostandjiev said, greater than the preliminary. $ 473-million quote, as expenses rose due to the COVID-19. pandemic and inflation.

The previous target for completion of the first phase was. July 2025.

The greenfield project will refine Angolan Cabinda crude,. supplied by state-controlled Sonangol at a rate of 30,000. barrels daily (bpd), and will supply 5-10% of the country's. needs, Bostandjiev said. Sonangol is a 10% investor in the. project.

A 2nd phase will take crude processing capability as much as. 60,000 bpd and bring a diesel and jet fuel-producing. hydrocracking unit online, some 1-1/2 to 2 years after the. refinery starts up.

Angola presently exports 98% of its crude and imports. almost 100% of its refined products from Europe, so think of how. ineffective this whole system is, Bostandjiev said. China is. the greatest purchaser of Angolan crude, accounting for nearly 60% of. 2023 exports, according to Kpler data.

When on stream, the refinery will at first export fuel oil. and naphtha which can not be processed locally, while providing. the regional market with diesel and jet fuel, Bostandjiev said.

Financing for the 2nd phase has actually not been finalised yet,. Bostandjiev stated, including that a final decision is expected in. April or May once the plant is online.

The refinery could likewise export some fuel to the Democratic. Republic of the Congo in later phases, Bostandjiev stated.

Gemcorp, a London-based emerging markets investment company,. was the refinery's sole Western investor, which Bostandjiev. credited to ESG structures blocking lots of Western. institutions from investing in oil and gas projects.

(source: Reuters)