Sonangol reinforced its positioning in the Oil and Natural Gas sector, with an increase in production from operated blocks and the resumption of onshore oil exploration activity, declared the chairman of the Board of Directors, when announcing the relevant facts of the company’s evolution during the year.
In a New Year’s message addressed to the company’s workers, released yesterday December 28, Sebastião Gaspar Martins highlights, in the field of onshore exploration (on land), the drilling of two wells in Blocks KON-11 and 12, located in the Kwanza Basin.
The leader of the Angolan state oil company also highlights the evolution that has taken place in the search for domestic fuel self-sufficiency to complement supplies from the Luanda Refinery, with the signing of the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the construction of the Luanda Refinery. Lobito.
He pointed out, as relevant, the launch of the first bond issue, through a Public Subscription Offering, with a coverage ratio on the offer of 111.94 percent, which he considered a “factor that demonstrates investors’ confidence in the trajectory financial position of our company”.
According to Sebastião Gaspar Martins, significant progress was also made in refining projects in Cabinda and Soyo, and, on the other hand, the first electricity generation plant from renewable sources was completed and put into operation, in Namibe, with capacity for 25 megawatts of solar energy in its first phase.
Furthermore, he continued, the Green Hydrogen Project continued and the second phase of the Falcão Project (production of components for ammonia and urea fertilizers) was completed in the province of Zaire, in projects that he said fit into the strategy of company’s energy transition.
The list of achievements includes the start of operations of two Suezmax type ships to reinforce the maritime fleet, which he said makes the company more competitive, and progress in the construction of the Barra do Dande Ocean Terminal to ensure the regularity of supplies that they cover the increased demand for domestic consumption, in addition to the marked evolution seen in the implementation of a program to modernize filling stations.
The evolution in 2023 was also marked by the acquisition, in Italy, of two AW-139 type helicopters to boost Sonair’s operations and the construction of the Research and Development Center in Cuanza-Sul, in addition to having registered a increase in internal training activity.
These achievements, he considered, are recognized beyond the company, constituting the explanation for the five distinctions received this year in Angola and abroad.
Consignment notice for the Lobito Refinery works was signed
The Angolan state oil company announced the signing of the consignment notice for the works at the Lobito Refinery, Benguela, just over a week ago, making the start of construction of that unit imminent, in a contract last October awarded to China National Chemical Engineering Company (CNCEC).
Sonangol, which yesterday revealed the holding of the meetings, in a program broadcast on RNA, declared that, with the signing of the consignment notice, the construction site is officially handed over to the contractor, marking the effective start of the works.
The consignment notice was signed by the vice-president for the International area of CNCEC, Li Jian, and by the project director for Sonangol, Giomar Correia.
The company declared that the completion of this project reflects a joint commitment that will have a notable influence on the evolution and development of the Angolan oil sector, considers the company.
The six billion dollar contract for the construction of the Lobito Refinery was signed on October 20th, between Sonangol and CNCEC, in an act in which the Minister of Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas, Diamantino Azevedo, announced the launch of negotiations to transform the undertaking into a project with a regional vocation.
The value of the contract for the construction of the Refinery, designed to process 200 thousand barrels of crude per day, represents a reduction by half, compared to the 12 billion established during the work’s preparation period, from 2012 to 2016, with a phase optimization process that took place from 2018 to 2021.
