The Republic of Congo is well-positioned to contribute toward regional demand for petroleum, given the country’s operating Congolaise de Raffinage (CORAF) refinery and strategic geographic location. A downstream panel discussion at the Congo Energy & Investment Forum 2025 highlighted that the modernization of CORAF and future downstream investments can support growing demand for fuel, as Central Africa’s population is expected to rapidly grow.
“Congo’s population is expected to add five million people by 2050. Geographically, the country is also blessed to be situated next to the DRC. So, you have a massive market right here. I am excited to get to 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) [in Congo], but most people don’t see crude oil: they use jet fuel, diesel and by-products. We need to talk about infrastructure investments,” stated Anibor Kragha, Executive Secretary of the African Refiners & Distributors Association.
The Republic of Congo’s ambitions to increase oil and gas output to 500,000 bpd and three million tons per annum (mtpa), respectively, coincide with a drive to enhance fuel security in both the country and broader region. At present, the country’s CORAF refinery has a processing capacity of one mtpa, converting crude oil into finished products such as butane gas, gasoline, kerosene and light diesel.
“CORAF was designed to work with one million tons of crude petroleum. Today, it continues to satisfy the needs of the local market, catering for between 65% to 70% of demand while the rest is imported to help the country. CORAF is in the process of being modernized in order to increase its production capacity,” stated Richard Ngola, Managing Director: Downstream, Ministry of Hydrocarbons, Republic of Congo.
This modernization started in 2015, when the need to improve operating units became prevalent. According to Patrice Yao, Deputy Administrator at CORAF, “We designed a development plan to enable new units to be installed and to modernize the piloting system. When the units are old, you have the challenge of maintenance, technological issues and human resources. New units enabled an increase in processing capacity.”
However, Yao believes that this is not enough, and the country needs to increase the quantity of products for the national market while investing in new downstream projects. To increase downstream capacity, the government has initiated the construction of a second facility: the Atlantic Petrochemical Refinery. This facility – developed in partnership with Beijing Fortune Dingheng Investment – will have a capacity of 2.3 mtpa in the first phase, focusing on high-quality gasoline and diesel. Set to start operations in late-2025, the refinery will provide a much-needed boost for the country’s downstream sector.
However, Kragha noted that downstream investments need to go beyond refining. “You need to look not only at the refinery expansion but the supporting infrastructure to be able to deliver on your objectives,” he said.
The inaugural Congo Energy & Investment Forum, taking place March 24-26, 2025, in Brazzaville, under the highest patronage of President Denis Sassou Nguesso and supported by the Ministry of Hydrocarbons and Société Nationale des Pétroles du Congo, brings together international investors and local stakeholders to explore national and regional energy and infrastructure opportunities.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Energy Capital & Power.