Gaspar Martins said this Friday, at a press conference, that a tender was held in 2021 to look for investors, but most entities intended to participate in construction, not investment.
"It was not for this purpose that the competition had been designed. And that was why we decided to take on this responsibility and because the guardianship instructed us to assume this responsibility and we are assuming it", said Gaspar Martins.
Sonangol's PCA stressed that there are several expressions of interest, after clarifying the objectives, "and very soon" the companies that will participate will be announced, recalling that the Government of Zambia recently expressed interest in a 15 percent stake in an infrastructure.
Gaspar Martins informed that the engineering is underway in Houston, United States of America, with costs borne by the state-owned oil company.
In turn, the executive director of the oil company, Joaquim Fernandes, said that some companies, after the closing of the tender, even proposed to Sonangol that there be a sovereign guarantee from the State to enter the company, while others that requested some amounts of crude oil per day.
"This was not the intention of the tender, we were instructed by superiors to move forward. Sonangol took the lead in the process, however, we had other expressions [of interest], 39 companies submitted letters of intent and we were working with them", underlined.
Of the 39 companies evaluated following the adopted criteria, eight were selected and will be submitted for evaluation, with regard to their financial capacity and proof of funds, as well as their technical capacity and experience in this regard.
"We have the preliminary engineering report already issued and (...) so that in the next few weeks we can already indicate who the other entities may be, which with us may be part of the corporate structure of the Lobito Refinery", added Joaquim Fernandes.
The project to build and operate the Lobito Refinery, with a nominal capacity of 200,000 barrels of oil per day, is underway and is expected to be completed in 2026.
President of Sonangol says they are to maintain stakes in BCP and Galp
The chairman of the board of directors of Sonangol said this Friday that they are to maintain the stakes in BCP and Galp, investments considered strategic.
"As long as we have conditions to continue in that activity, yes we will continue, we are also at Galp, it is with the same principle, as long as we have conditions we will continue, they are the main assets", said Gaspar Martins, in a press conference.
In his intervention, the executive director, Osvaldo Inácio, reinforced by saying that "these investments are strategic and are to be maintained".
"And like any investment, they continue to be reassessed, but until now they are strategic investments to be maintained and profitable. In fact, recently [Galp] published its results and the results were very positive and obviously it will also be positive for Sonangol in terms of dividends", emphasized Osvaldo Inácio.
Sonangol is the second largest shareholder in BCP, with a 14.49 percent stake, while in Galp it indirectly holds a 45 percent stake in the Amorim Energia holding company, the largest shareholder in the oil company Galp with around 33 percent.
