Mthombo Refinery: PetroSA, China's Sinopec partner to drive the project

Construction of the Mthombo project, which will be the biggest refinery in Africa, is expected to start this year, with the refinery to become operational by 2015, PetroSA said. The $11 billion refinery in the industrial port of Coega near Port Elizabeth will have a 400 000 barrels a day capacity, securing fuel supply in SA.

According to PetroSA, the agreement will initially focus on market studies and the review and selection of a business case, while the second phase of the project will prepare Mthombo for the important Front End Engineering Design (FEED) stage. FEED refers to the basic engineering which is conducted after the completion of a conceptual design or feasibility study of a project. At this stage, before the start of Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) phase, various studies will take place to figure out technical issues and estimate rough investment cost.

According to the agreement, Allafrica.com says, PetroSA and Sinopec will contract Sinopec Engineering Incorporation to conduct the studies on behalf of the two companies. The two phases are expected to last 18 months. "[The Joint Study Agreement with Sinopec] will align the partners and develop an integrated owner's team," PetroSA Group CEO Nosizwe Nokwe said. "[This is] in line with best practices for the planning and executing of this mega project. Project Mthombo will significantly gain from the experience and expertise of Sinopec," she said.

Read the full article on http://allafrica.com.