Sonangol has granted Engineers India Limited (EIL) a contract to provide services related to the construction of the Lobito refinery in Angola.

Under the contract, EIL will provide the Angolan state-owned oil company with Front End Engineering Design Revalidation, Licensor Selection and Basic Design and Engineering Package Review at an undisclosed value.

The Lobito refinery is expected to come on stream in 2018, six years after the first stone was laid.

The site was initially supposed to be completed in 2011, but was delayed by rising costs and financing problems.

The refinery will have a daily processing capacity of 200,000 BO and production of approximately 10 million tons of unleaded gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, kerosene and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) annually, Macauhub news reports.

Anita Fatunji