The tenders involve hiring engineering services, procurement, construction and commissioning (EPCC), as well as project financing, and inspection of the contract, Sonangol said in a statement.
"A total of 45 specialized entities, national and international, with proven experience in the construction and inspection of infrastructures of this nature were invited," said the oil company, adding that "in order to guarantee competitiveness, transparency and the identification of the best solution technical and commercial possible ", the competitions will be open until February 24th.
Petroleum Minister Diamantino Pedro said in January that the memorandum of understanding signed between Sonangol and a sheikh from Dubai for the development of the terminal did not materialize, without specifying the reasons, but guaranteed the continuity of the project.
"Sonangol considers it important to mention that, although, at this stage, the activities inherent to the relaunch of the project, in general, and those foreseen for these tenders, in particular, are being conducted entirely by the company, the vision remains of its implementation being based on the constitution of a joint venture ", stressed the company.
The memorandum of understanding with the oil company for the construction of a logistics base for the storage of oil products in Barra do Dande had been signed on November 7, 2019, in an investment estimated at US $ 600 million.
At the time, Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al-Maktoum stressed that "the country has great potential" and expressed the desire to get involved in more projects.
The project for the storage of petroleum products, seen as strategic, was started in 2014 and interrupted in 2016, due to the economic context that the country and the company lived in that period.
The construction of the infrastructure was previously estimated at US $ 1500 million and was to be developed by Atlantic Ventures, a company associated with Isabel dos Santos, which saw the contract revoked in 2018 and advanced, at the time, a lawsuit against the State .
At the time of the announcement, the timetable pointed to the structure being operational in the first half of 2022 and the start of works was scheduled for 2020.
According to Sonangol's statement, the terminal "will contribute to the increase of national storage capacity on land, providing the country with large infrastructures capable of ensuring a robust strategic reserve and national security, and improving distribution logistics. refined products for the interior of the country ".
The infrastructure will be located in the future free zone of Barra do Dande having the capacity, in its first phase, to store 580,000 cubic meters of gasoline, diesel and LPG (liquefied petroleum gas).
