Russian companies Rail Standard Service and Fortland Consulting Company laid the first stone of a refinery to be built in the town of Giraul de Baixo, Moçâmedes municipality, the capital of Namibe province, the Angolan press reported. The project, with overall investment of US$12 billion, includes the construction of a housing area for workers, a power station and a railway line linking the Moçâmedes and Benguela railways. Anatoly Kazlov, representing the Russian investors, said the project aims to build a large oil centre in southern Angola to meet the energy needs of other southern African countries. The project will be executed by Namref, the investment vehicle company to be set up by the two Russian companies (75% investment by Rail Standard Service and 25% by Fortland Consulting Company) and local partners, as stipulated the contract signed with the Technical Private Investment Unit (UTIP). The first phase of this project involves construction of the oil desalination and conversion unit with a capacity of 10 million tonnes per year within three and a half years. This capacity, as well as the type of product to be refined, such as gasoline, diesel and bitumen, will increase with the completion of the remaining phases. In addition to the licenses and the land, the Angolan State undertakes, through the contract signed with the UTIP, to purchase refined products of between 28,000 barrels of crude oil per day (in the first phase, within three and a half years) and 364,000 barrels per day (in the last phase, within 11 years).
