Angolan refining poised for expansion

Work is set to begin on a new greenfield refinery in the north of the country, with other developments also seeing progress

Angola has announced various refining projects over the last 20 years or so with little or no physical progress. However, a 2019 deal between state-owned Sonangol and Italy’s Eni is beginning to produce results. The agreement includes refurbishing the 56,000bl/d Luanda facility near the capital and the development of two new refineries—Soyo and Cabinda—that have been on the drawing board in various iterations for years. Although it is Africa’s second-largest crude producer—with output of 1.3mn bl/d—Angola’s downstream sector has lagged. Throughput is limited to the ageing Luanda facility and the 16,000bl/d Malongo topping unit run by Chevron in the Cabinda exclave, and Luanda’s functional ca