Angola is formulating legislation to make it easier for companies operating in the fuel and sales distribution market to import oil products directly.
The country currently imports 80 percent of its fuel and only has one operating refinery, with a 20 percent production capacity.
“We want to open the market so that the companies (…) can import the fuel directly, without having to depend on the Sonangol concessionaire,” Angola Secretary of State for Mineral Resources and Oil Paulino Jerónimo said at the opening of the first International Conference on Oil in Luanda last week.
He added that government has adopted a strategy to build a refinery in Lobito, with capacity for 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) and another in Cabinda, with a capacity of 50,000 to 60,000 bpd.
Angola’s national oil company Sonangol is currently going through a restructuring phase and the government is also developing a National Oil and Gas Agency, which will take on the role of national concessionaire.