Rehabilitation, reconstruction, modernisation of SONARA: Project completion to ensure country’s energy sovereignty, boost economic growth.

PARRAS 24 was adopted by the Board of Directors of SONARA on August 13, 2025 during its 139th session. It is the first step in implementing the procedures related to the option of rehabilitating/reconstructing the company, as approved by the President of the Republic. 

The PARRAS 24 project aims to restart the refinery's production facilities and preserve the installations and the operational human resources that have been inactive since 2019.

The completion of the rehabilitation and reconstruction of SONARA, through the PARRAS 24 project, is expected to ensure the country’s energy sovereignty, boost economic growth, maintain and create new jobs, provide growth through the resulting employment pool, improve Cameroon's trade balance by limiting imports and the associated foreign exchange outflows on the country’s external account, among others. 

In an explanatory note released recently by SONARA, the company indicates that the initiative was proposed alongside the preliminary design study, APS, currently being carried out by AXENS France, “which is essential for eligibility for the public-private partnership, PPP, process, in accordance with the Very High Instructions of the Head of State”.

It should be recalled that before the fire incident on May 31, 2019, which destroyed four units of the old facilities, the company had been carrying out an expansion and modernisation project, dubbed SONARA 2010 project. 

SONARA had initially been built according to a hydroskimming configuration, i.e., a simple refinery equipped with atmospheric distillation, hydrotreatment, and a catalytic reforming unit. It was designed to process Cameroon heavy crude oil called KOLE with an initial capacity of 2.1 million tons/year. 

To enable the company to refine other types of crude oils and increase its production capacity, the company initiated the expansion and mordenisation project, SONARA 2010. According to the explanatory note, SONARA 2010 project was on the premise of “the failure to meet the needs of the Cameroonian market, which was increasingly demanding white products, particularly diesel and super; the difficulty for SONARA to generate profits to guarantee cash-flow, as it was no longer protected from fluctuations in crude oil prices by the State (as was the case in the old economic model)”.

“Following the liberalisation of the oil sector in the 1990s, which meant that SONARA no longer has a monopoly on supply, and given the need to cover 80% of the domestic market and remain competitive in the sub-region, the need for profitability and competitiveness became apparent,” the note explained.

So, SONARA 2010 project was set up with the objectives of “economically: to increase annual production capacity to 3.5 million tons/year, meet the needs of the domestic market, and export any surplus production; and Strategically: to maximise the refining of Cameroonian crude oil and that of the sub-region”.

Specificities of SONARA 2010 project

The expansion and modernisation project had involved two phases. Phase 1 consisted of “installing a vacuum distillation unit and upgrading the facilities to bring the refinery's production capacity to 3.5 million tons/year”. Phase 2 consisted of “installing a hydrocracker fed by the VGO produced by vacuum distillation”.

According to the explanatory note by SONARA, before the fire accident on May 31, 2019: “The decongestion of the old facilities had already been completed and was in service. The atmospheric distillation unit had been increased to a capacity of 3.5 million tons/year; the installation of the vacuum distillation unit had been completed and was also in service at the time of the incident; the other peripheral units were being finalised”. 

“We therefore note that at the time of the incident, phase 1 (de-bottlenecking and vacuum distillation) of the SONARA 2010 project was almost complete and production was underway in its units,” it added.

It also stated that: “Phase 2 had already been contracted out to the USAY/KT KINETIC consortium (Contract No. 000213/M/MINMAP/CCPM-AI/2014 of May 15, 2020) but was suspended following the fire due to force majeure”.

Beginning of moves to rehabilitate/reconstruct SONARA

The explanatory note indicates that following the fire incident, on May 31, 2019, which forced SONARA to halt production, “MINFI, through its Technical Commission for the Rehabilitation of Public and Parapublic Sector Enterprises (CTR), commissioned a diagnostic study of SONARA through a call for tenders on 28 February, 2020. This study, conducted by the HYDRAC-CLS Audit Conseil consortium between 2020 and 2021, resulted in recommendations for four (04) different options for restarting the refinery”.

“Once the audit report was sent to the CTR, it was submitted to the Interministerial Committee for the Restructuring of Public and Parapublic Sector Enterprises (CIM-MREP), which, after reviewing it at its meeting on 20 April, 2021, made the certain recommendations to SONARA,” it noted.

These recommendations, the note added, included: “Restarting the refinery in the final configuration of the “SONARA 2010” project (option 3 of the diagnostic study report), with a complex refinery equipped with a hydrocracking unit (DHC); prior completion of an in-depth technical, economic, and financial study of option No. 3 relating to a complex refinery with a hydrocracking unit, together with plans and designs for the new refinery; launch of a call for tender for the recruitment of a consultant, under an emergency procedure, to carry out the aforementioned study; reconstruction of the new refinery complex with a hydrocracking unit, through a public-private partnership; opening of negotiations with SONARA's co-contractors currently involved in the “SONARA 2010” project, with a view to determining the terms and conditions for the termination of their contracts; and completion of all preliminary support measures”.

Head of State's instructions

It added that: “On 22 April, 2022, in letter no. 376/CF/SG/PR, the Minister of State, Secretary General of the Presidency of the Republic, notified the General Manager of SONARA of the Head of State's instructions for the implementation, within the framework of a public-private partnership, of the rehabilitation/restructuring option consisting of restarting the refinery in the final configuration of the “SONARA 2010” project, and of carrying out all the preliminary accompanying measures as proposed within the framework of the Interministerial Committee for the Rehabilitation of Public and Parapublic Sector Enterprises (CIM-MREP)”.

“However, until the first quarter of 2024, and despite the various initiatives that had been carried out as part of the implementation of instructions received over time, both from the government and the Very High Instructions issued by the Presidency of the Republic, none of the steps that had been taken were able to proceed due to a lack of authorisation to continue contracting, putting SONARA in a situation where it did not have a preliminary study to be able to begin rehabilitation/reconstruction work on its production facilities,” the note disclosed.

New instructions 

Nonetheless, it stated that: “On 12 July, 2024, by dispatch No. A64/C/SG/PR, new Instructions were received from the Minister of State, Secretary General of the Presidency of the Republic; which prescribed that, after inviting bids from at least three internationally renowned consulting firms, a specialised firm be recruited on an emergency basis to carry out the FEED studies for the rehabilitation/reconstruction of SONARA”.

“In accordance with these instructions, in August 2024, we launched a consultation process involving twelve (12) international firms. Although this process resulted in the selection of a firm, it was ultimately canceled due to fundamental differences at the time of contracting. This was officially formalized by Cancellation Decision No. 004/25/SONARA/DG/CAB of January 27, 2025,” it stated.

“Nevertheless, in accordance with the High Instructions issued at the meeting of Friday, 3 January, 2025, at the Presidency of the Republic, asking us to ‘enter into discussions with AXENS with a view to signing a contract with this firm for the completion of a preliminary design study for the reconstruction/rehabilitation of SONARA’ in accordance with the requirements of international lenders (World Bank and IMF), the steps taken led to the signing of a contract between SONARA and AXENS on 19 February, 2025, for the completion of a detailed feasibility study (preliminary design) for the rehabilitation/reconstruction of SONARA over a period of 42 weeks. The APS studies, which began with kick-off meetings on 19 and 20 March, 2025, are currently underway,” it disclosed. 

Enter PARRAS 24 project 

Following several processes and instructions from the Presidency of the Republic, the Board of Directors of SONARA, on August 13, 2025 adopted the PARRAS 24 project.

“Given the socio-economic and political challenges posed by the resumption of refining at SONARA for the South-West region, Cameroon, and the Central African sub-region, the PARRAS 24 initiative is a measure to accelerate the restructuring, reconstruction, and rehabilitation plan for SONARA in its essential aspects, with the ultimate goal of restarting its production facilities in 2027,” SONARA indicated.

It stated further that “…PARRAS 24 is not in contradiction or at odds with the restructuring plan, which includes industrial and financial options in general (May 2023), the ongoing reconstruction/rehabilitation project, and the steps associated with financing via a Public-Private Partnership (PPP). Indeed, the medium-term need to align with new product specifications by 2030 and aim for a production capacity capable of meeting the needs of the domestic market over the next 25 years remains relevant, and PARRAS 24 is part of this dynamic, even accelerating it”.

“Nevertheless, PARRAS 24 aims to send a strong signal and serve as a positive indicator to local communities and international partners of the momentum behind the resumption of refining activities,” it added.

PARRAS 24 to reduce timeframe from 60 to 24 months

The explanatory note also indicated that PARRAS 24 is an initiative that will give the opportunity to resume refining within a considerably reduced timeframe, i.e., 24 months instead of 60 months if production were to resume only upon completion of the SONARA 2010 project.

Advantages of PARRAS 24

Meanwhile, other advantages of PARRAS 24, according to the explanatory note, include: enabling SONARA to resume its missions as originally defined in its statutes, the main one being to supply the national territory with petroleum products through refining; revitalising and expanding the industrial fabric surrounding refining; improving Cameroon's trade balance by limiting imports and the associated foreign exchange outflows on Cameroon's external account as soon as possible. It also has the advantage of maintaining jobs and specific skills in the long term at the Limbe site and providing growth through the resulting employment pool. The positive effects will enable SONARA to retain the highly skilled refining expertise that the site has had since its creation.

The note indicated further that: “According to the SONARA diagnostic study report conducted by HYDARC-CLS, PARRAS 24 is an essential step in the SONARA 2010 project, which includes the installation of a hydrocracker in phase 2 of SONARA's technical restructuring plan”.

“Its implementation will secure the resumption of refining in the short term, while preparing the technical and administrative conditions necessary for phase 2 and the process of eligibility for the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) in strict compliance with the high instructions of the Head of State,” it stated.

The company, in the note also expressed delight that: “The Prime Minister, during his visit to SONARA on 9 October, 2025, and in his speech to the National Assembly during the presentation of his socio-economic programme, welcomed the PARRAS 24 project and promised Government's support for the implementation of PARRAS 24 as part of the reconstruction, rehabilitation, and modernisation of SONARA”.

“Similarly, during the presentation of his ministry’s budget to the Finance Committee of the National Assembly, the Minister of Water Resources and Energy made the following statement regarding the financing of the Plan: ‘with the guarantee of two lines of the petroleum product price structure (‘Support for the refinery’ and ‘Modernisation of infrastructure’), all governed by a tripartite agreement (SONARA/MINFI/Financial Partner),’ the main condition for the full success of PARRAS 24,” it added.

While SONARA has already received several expressions of interest, mainly from traders, for the financing and implementation of PARRAS 24, it regrets that “the sine qua non condition set by several traders and other banks remains the pledge of lines 29 and 30 of the price structure and a letter of commitment to that effect”.

It is on the basis of the aforementioned that SONARA is requesting “the necessary support from the Government of the Republic in order to guarantee the start-up of PARRAS 24 at the beginning of 2026 and to confidently envisage a resumption of refining at SONARA before the end of 2027, a guarantee of our country's energy sovereignty”.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3656 of Monday December 15, 2025