Charles Metouck

SoNaRa was established in 1976. The refinery was built in Limbe, in the English-speaking region of Cameroon, about 100km from Douala. Construction by Procofrance began in 1979, and the refinery opened in May 1981. A major improvement project involving the replacement of the crude oil SBM with a wharf for loading/discharging, and an increase in tankage capacity, was undertaken in 1996.In 2001 a project to improve the distillation yields (deep distillation), and to further increase tankage capacity, was completed.

Crude feed is mainly light Nigerian, although some Cameroon Kole is processed in a blend with Equatorial Guinean Alba condensate. Camships (the National shipping line) charter a 90,000dwt vessel, currently the ANTARTICA, for SoNaRa to use for the crude transport.

The refinery is mainly focussed on the domestic market, but also sells to neighbouring countries (CEMAC), and exports around 500,000mt/yr to international markets by sea.