During the first day of the Angola Oil & Gas (AOG) 2025 conference and exhibition in Luanda, Anigobr Kragha, Executive Secretary, ARDA emphasized the need for incremental capacity and imports in order to mitigate a lack of refining capacity within Africa.

“Our upstream sector’s future is bright, but downstream sector investments are not keeping up,” Kragha stated, adding, “We are focused on energy security, cleaner transport and cooking fuels, and efficient storage and distribution.”

Key downstream initiatives in Angola include the Cabinda, Soyo and Lobito Refineries, which are expected to be operational in 2025, 2026 and 2027, respectively. With these new infrastructure projects, Angola is targeting over 400,000 barrels per day of refining capacity. These developments in Angola's downstream industry were emphasized during the panel, Towards a Secure Energy Future: Accelerating Downstream Development to Meet Market Demands - sponsored by Famar. 

Meanwhile, Angola’s Petroleum Derivatives Regulatory Institute (IRDP) leveraged the AOG 2025 platform to outline a strategy to expand the country’s refining and fuel storage capacity. According to the institute, Angola will expand operational capacity at the Lobito and Namibe facilities by 2027, with further developments planned for the Cabinda, Soyo and Moxico facilities.

“We aim to improve our regulatory landscape in a way that will attract more investment to Angola than ever before,” stated António Feijó, Deputy General Manager, IRDP.

Complementing the country’s downstream sector, bunkering and maritime services company FAMAR plays a key role in the distribution and trade of petroleum products and services in Angola. The company is actively modernizing port infrastructure with integrated solutions in fuel storage, management and ship repair.

“Regarding distribution and offshore supply, efficiency and reliability have never been more critical. This is why we’ve created a storage program to support the entire oil and gas value chain in Angola,” stated Ruis Morais, Administrator, FAMAR.

Meanwhile, Kevin Dadzie, Regional Manager-T&S Refining & Products Trading Europe & Africa at energy supermajor bp stated, “A lot of investments are going into refineries, into infrastructure and into trading. This tends to form the key areas of growth for the sector.”