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Congo-Brazzaville will have a second refinery in the city of Pointe-Noire, thanks to a financing agreement signed with the Chinese company Beijing Fortune Dingheng. The project aims to cover national needs and to make Congo an exporter of refined products. Experts are already demanding good governance and, in particular, respect for the environment.
It is difficult to find kerosene at petrol stations in Brazzaville. Some stations have even removed the delivery pumps for this product. The Congolaise de raffinage (Coraf), the first operational refinery since 1982, covers only 70% of the country’s needs, which will start construction of a second refinery.
“According to our estimates, it is very likely that in the first quarter of 2021, work on this second refinery will begin,” said Alphonse Obami, contract adviser in charge of oil downstream at the Ministry of Hydrocarbons. He explains the reasons that drive the authorities to set up this second refinery. “It is to meet the growing needs of our industry and the growing needs of our population for fuels,” he adds. She could play a bigger role. “We are calm about the fact that we will export petroleum products to the sub-region, and why not to the market,” dreams M. Obami.
Modular refinery
The amount of the financing agreement for this flexible refinery, which will be located in Pointe-Noire’s special economic zone, has not been revealed. Its features were presented by Sen Shao, a representative of Chinese society.
“The company plans to install a refinery that will have a nominal refining capacity of 2.5 million tonnes per year. The typical model is that of a modular refinery whose end products will mainly be high-quality gasoline and gas oils, liquefied petroleum gases, light fuel oils and lamp oils, says Shao.
Concerned about governance and the environment
The national coordinator of the “Publish what you pay” campaign, Christian Mounzéo, for his part, is still concerned about governance and environmental management.
“It is good to first solve all the problems related to the governance of this (oil) sector. Let us also not forget that there is a reputation for Asian companies, especially Chinese, which in a way are not particularly interested in the issues of environmental management, ”states Mounzéo. .
In terms of refining, Congo officially uses only 10% of its oil production, estimated at between 300,000 and 350,000 barrels per day.
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