Angola’s $3.8bn Lobito refinery is now expected to be completed in July 2027, with the project currently 23% complete, according to Quantum Commodity Intelligence.

Being developed in phases, the 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) project recently suffered a funding shortfall, which saw Angola’s state-owned oil company Sonangol search for $4.8bn to fill the gap in April 2025. At the time, the company was in talks with lenders from both Europe and China.

Furthermore, in a recent visit to the site, Angola’s minister of mineral resources, petroleum and gas, Diamantino Azevedo, underscored the importance of the refinery when he visited the plant in December, and confirmed that it would play an important role in diversifying the country’s energy industry and reducing its dependence on fuel imports.

Overall, interest in the project remains strong. Although talks for the plant began more than 20 years ago (with an initial deal signed with Sinopec back in 2007 to develop and fund the scheme), involvement from numerous international entities including KBR – in charge of the initial front-end engineering and design (FEED) study – Engineers India Ltd, which carried out FEED validation, as well as BP, ENI and Total – who have all held talks with Luanda – prove that the refinery will have a significant impact on the region once complete.

In addition to the refinery, Sonangol is also set to conduct studies on the construction of a petrochemical complex at the plant, with this particular addition aligning with Angola’s long-term goal to improve the production of fertilisers and their associated products, which will aid in the development of Angolan agriculture.

Speaking to the press in December, Lobito refinery’s project director, Guiomar Correia, said regarding the ongoing project that “this set of activities, not only on the construction site but in other parts of the world, is more or less aligned with our plan to reach the final objective, which is to deliver the refinery in 2027”.