Cameroon Begins Construction of New 30,000 Barrels Per Day Oil Refinery

Cameroon has commenced the construction of a 30,000-barrel-per-day oil refinery in Lolabé, within the Kribi industrial-port zone of the country. This was revealed by the country’s National Hydrocarbons Company (SNH).

Cameroon’s National Hydrocarbons Company (SNH), its subsidiary Tradex, and the Ariana/RCG consortium officially launched the CSTAR Refinery project estimated cost of 115 billion CFA francs, recently.

Project Details

The construction is being led by RCG Turnkey Solutions in partnership with Global Process Systems (GPS) and Norinco International with the work expected to take 18 months, with commissioning set for June 2028. The construction aligns with the presidential vision to position Cameroon as a regional hub for petroleum product supply.

The project also includes a fuel storage terminal for diesel, gasoline, Jet A1, kerosene, and heavy fuel oil with an initial capacity of between 250,000 to 300,000 cubic meters.

Cameroon Refinery Shutdown

Cameroon continues to face challenges from the prolonged shutdown of Sonara, its national refinery which ceased all refining activity after a fire in May 2019, making Cameroon entirely dependent on imports of finished petroleum products, despite producing around 72,000 barrels of crude oil per day.

Cameroon’s annual demand for petroleum products is estimated at 1.9 million metric tons but its current storage capacity, approximately 270,000 cubic meters, falls significantly short of regulatory requirements of about 470,000 cubic meters.

The new refinery could reduce cameroon’s fuel imports by 30%, leading to annual savings of nearly 400 billion CFA francs. Authorities also anticipate export revenues of 141 billion CFA francs, primarily from marine fuels in addition to the creation of 2,000 direct and 5,000 indirect jobs, along with skills transfer benefiting the local workforce.

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