Energy Allied International and WCW International, Inc. of
Houston, Texas and Petroci, the National Oil Company of Cote d'
Ivoire, announced today that they will partner to build, own and
operate a 60,000 barrel-per-day crude oil refining facility and a
strategic refined products storage facility in Abidjan. Energy Allied
International and WCW International will jointly develop the project
and select the engineering, procurement and construction company for
the USD 1.4 billion facility. This 250-acre refinery will be among the
largest upgrading facilities in Africa. The market study and technical
feasibility study for the refinery was completed by The Shaw Group
(NYSE:SGR) as third party technical expert. Financial advisory
services were performed by Taylor-DeJongh. The partnership has been
granted the approval to proceed with the engineering and design and
will finalize the plans for funding with financial institutions. The
project will be led from Energy Allied International's headquarters in
Houston, Texas.
This refinery will process 60,000 barrels per day of crude and
produce gasoline, jet fuel, diesel oil and butane for sale into West
African markets. The process technologies are sophisticated and highly
flexible with respect to quality of crude feed, yet proven and in wide
spread use. This region is short of the required capacity to produce
these refined products and is presently importing from Europe and the
Middle East.
His Excellency, President Laurent Gbagbo, of the Republic of Cote
d'Ivoire, said, "This is a direct result of the peace process and the
confidence that has been generated in the international and domestic
investment community." His Excellency further added, "Our government
welcomes this partnership of Energy Allied International and WCW
International with Petroci. This signals the resumption of significant
major investments in Cote d'Ivoire."
The Minister of Mines and Energy of the Republic of Cote d'Ivoire,
Mr. Emmanuel Leon Monnet, stated, "This refinery will bring
state-of-the-art technology and complements the existing refinery
operations in our country. Furthermore, it will create many direct and
indirect local jobs."
Kassoum Fadika, Petroci Director General, said, "The
implementation of this new refinery is a much anticipated next step in
our vision to make Abidjan and Cote d'Ivoire a major center for
refining and redistribution of high end petroleum products along the
West African Atlantic Basin."
"We are very pleased to be participating in the development of
this project for the Republic of Cote d' Ivoire and all the people in
this region of West Africa. We will bring much needed refining
technology and capacity to the region, enabling Petroci to provide
countries with clean refined products from local West African crude,"
said Mike Nassar, Chairman and CEO of Energy Allied International.
"This timely and strategically significant project will utilize
state-of-the-art and environmentally sensitive technology and will
minimize the dependency of the region on imported petroleum products,"
commented Chris Wilmot, President and CEO of WCW International.
