Angolan extends Luanda oil refinery to boost fuel production

Angolan President Joao Lourenco inaugurated an extension unit on the Luanda refinery, which aims to increase the production of crude oil products fourfold, especially petrol.

An agreement with the Italian company ENI was also signed to improve the production and marketing processes.

"The main highlight is increasing the production capacity of refined petroleum products, such as diesel and gasoline. The situation in the country, which has significant crude oil production but until recently had little capacity to transform it, was somewhat incomprehensible," said Joao Lourenco, the President of Angola.

The new plant will bump up Angola’s fuel production to 1.58 million litres a day, contributing to a 15 percent reduction in annual imports, according to state oil company Sonangol.

Angola is sub-Saharan Africa's second-largest oil exporter after Nigeria but, according to government figures, it produces only about 20 percent of the refined products it needs.

Built with support from Italian energy giant Eni, the new Luanda facility is one of several multimillion-dollar projects initiated by Lourenco, who is seeking re-election in August.

"It's good that the Lourenco administration has this ready ahead of the elections, as it can show it off internationally and locally as one its successes," Marisa Lourenco, an analyst at consultancy Control Risks, told AFP.

Angola is sub-Saharan Africa's second-largest oil exporter after Nigeria but, according to government figures, it produces only about 20 percent of the refined products it needs.

Built with support from Italian energy giant Eni, the new Luanda facility is one of several multimillion-dollar projects initiated by Lourenco, who is seeking re-election in August.