Sonangol takes Cabinda refinery FID

Angolan NOC is moving forward with most promising project, but other downstream expansion plans remain in limbo

Angolan state oil firm Sonangol has long espoused ambitions to create a downstream sector to match the upstream, upon which the former Portuguese colony is highly reliant. Imports account for around 80pc of the country’s refined product demand, with the rest being processed at the only functioning refinery at Luanda. The facility has a throughput capacity of c.57,000bl/d, although an ongoing upgrade project will increase this to 65,000bl/d, with a completion date pencilled in for next year. Key to the government’s plans to develop the sector are the addition of greenfield facilities at Lobito in the south, Soyo in the north and Cabinda even further north in the exclave of the same name. Part