Sonangol’s Lobito Refinery Reaches 27% Completion
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Angola's Lobito refinery project is 27% complete, marking a significant step in the nation's strategy to reduce reliance on imported petroleum products. Industry leaders at African Energy Week emphasized the need for regional cooperation and bankable projects to retain value within the African continent.
Why it matters
Increasing domestic refining capacity is essential for African nations to achieve energy security and economic independence from global supply chains.
Angola's 200,000-barrel-per-day Lobito refinery, being developed with Chinese contractor CMT3, is approximately 27% complete, with full completion expected within the next few years, Edson Pongolola, Director of Planning and Management at Sonangol E.P., said during African Energy Week (AEW) 2026 in Cape Town.
Pongolola outlined Angola's strategy to reduce dependence on imported refined petroleum products by expanding domestic refining capacity and developing infrastructure to serve regional markets.
Angola consumes 5.5 million tons of petroleum products annually, with demand growing by around 5% per year. Pongolola expects consumption to reach 7 million tons within the next four to five years. Sonangol has upgraded gasoline-processing units at its existing Luanda refinery, increasing gasoline production capacity to four times its 2019 level, with the units coming online in 2022. Beyond Luanda and Lobito, the company is also advancing phase two of the Cabinda refinery project.
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