Moz pushes ahead with refinery

MAPUTO – Mozambique and US firm Ayr Logistics have sealed a US$5 billion deal for the construction of an oil refinery in the energy-hungry southern African nation, Mozambican officials said yesterday.

The refinery, which will be based in Nacala-a-Velha in the country’s impoverished Nampula province, received government approval earlier this month. It is expected to produce 300 000 barrels of refined fuel a day when operational in 2015.Mozambican Energy Minister Salvador Namburete told Reuters about a third of the production would be used to supply the domestic market and the remainder exported, primarily to other nations in southern Africa.”Our hopes for the project are very high.It will have a strong social and economic impact not only in the country but also within the southern African region, given the strategic nature of its production,” Namburete told Reuters.The refinery, which will be about 70-per cent owned by Ayr Logistics, a firm registered in Texas, could help ease an energy crunch in Mozambique, which has enjoyed an economic boom since the end of a 17-year civil war in 1992.The former Portuguese colony has limited energy supplies, making it reliant on foreign oil and gas.It also has faced rising petrol prices and frequent shortages at pumps, prompting fears that its economic growth could slow.Nampa-ReutersIt is expected to produce 300 000 barrels of refined fuel a day when operational in 2015.Mozambican Energy Minister Salvador Namburete told Reuters about a third of the production would be used to supply the domestic market and the remainder exported, primarily to other nations in southern Africa.”Our hopes for the project are very high.It will have a strong social and economic impact not only in the country but also within the southern African region, given the strategic nature of its production,” Namburete told Reuters.The refinery, which will be about 70-per cent owned by Ayr Logistics, a firm registered in Texas, could help ease an energy crunch in Mozambique, which has enjoyed an economic boom since the end of a 17-year civil war in 1992.The former Portuguese colony has limited energy supplies, making it reliant on foreign oil and gas.It also has faced rising petrol prices and frequent shortages at pumps, prompting fears that its economic growth could slow.Nampa-Reuters