Logistics support for Angolan oil and gas

Angola

Manuel Graças de Deus, general manager of Kwanda – Suporte Logístico, talks to The Energy Year about the company’s performance and key developments and the advantages of its relationship with operators. Kwanda – Suporte Logístico provides logistical support for Angolan onshore and offshore oil activity through its infrastructure at the Kwanda Base, located in Soyo.

Can you share with us an assessment of Kwanda’s performance and an overview of the key developments the company has in the pipeline?
Kwanda is an entity that is dependent on the oil and gas operators and other service providers. Therefore, there is a certain dependence on the oil price dynamics and business from the operators’ standpoint. Given current prices, the ramping up of upstream activities and the excitement within the domestic oil and gas industry, Kwanda’s business activity is ramping up and the company is performing well.
We are growing in several areas of our business structure, for example, in the occupancy of our services, in the occupancy of our areas and accommodation infrastructure and in additional services that are required by the industry operators and service providers.
We have several yards, warehouses, and offices available for our clients, and we also have port facilities. Moreover, we provide more than 500 rooms for accommodation at our base, and we are in the process of upgrading our Kwanda Hotel, which we expect to become a four-star hotel. Its refurbishment will be finalised by mid-2024. Then, we are carrying out important renovations for some of our other infrastructure, for example, our accommodations – which we expect to have completed by Q3 2024.
All these measures are oriented towards further capturing the attention of our clients as well as providing them with better services. All Kwanda’s management is excited about what the future might hold for our company, and what is most important to us is not the magnitude of the required investment but rather the quality of services that we can offer for the satisfaction of our clients after investing.

What do you think are Kwanda’s main strengths regarding its relationships with operators?
Our major clients, the operators, live with us at the base every day. We engage with them, and we know exactly what their needs and plans are, from drilling to investment plans. We use this interaction and knowledge to fulfil their needs and plan our activities accordingly. We get information from them and know exactly how many rigs they are going to have, what the impact on our operations will be, how many people they want to bring in, how that will affect our accommodation facilities and so forth.
The sharing of information and data between us is constant, and that is a key factor for a very productive relationship. They tell us what their plans are going to be for the next few years, and we can adapt our equipment and infrastructure to respond in the best possible way.

From your viewpoint, how is 2024 going to look like in Angola from an oil and gas perspective, and how is it going to impact your business activities?
It is going to be fantastic, as everybody is investing, and the ANPG [National Oil, Gas and Biofuels Agency] is working consistently on new concessions, both onshore and offshore. There are many local companies that are becoming more aggressive and willing to get into the E&P business, increasing their footprint in terms of concessions onshore while continuing to develop substantially offshore.
While there is well-established operator activity up north in the Congo Basin, we are looking with interest into what is happening down south in Namibe and Benguela, especially regarding what may come from the ExxonMobil exploration campaign. All these ongoing developments are having a significant impact on our business, and of course we are looking with excitement at the operations and exploration activities both onshore and offshore that are going to kick-off in the next year and beyond.
In fact, although the majority of the services that we offer are more oriented towards offshore operators, which represent our larger clients, we are also looking into the benefits of other projects being developed around Soyo. We are well positioned and geographically well located to provide services for all these major projects.
Finally, Angola is well set up, with a mature oil and gas industry. Our country can use the experience and expertise that it has built over the years and export this to countries such as Namibia, which has a promising oil and gas future.

More specifically, if you had to identify some of the key undertakings happening in Angola, which will play an important role for Kwanda’s growth?
There are many interesting projects on the horizon, such as the Quiluma and Maboqueiro project (New Gas Consortium) operated by Azule Energy. The facilities are under construction, and we are providing some services to the construction company working there and are committed to the project until it is finalised.
This undertaking represents Angola’s first non-associated gas project, and it will positively affect both the economy in Soyo and the country’s as well. There will be many jobs created and many improvements from a socioeconomic point of view. Moreover, some of the companies involved in the project are shareholders of Kwanda, so we can say that indirectly we benefit as well.
We are the operator of the Port of Soyo, which is one of our main sources of income. We provide accommodation and a vast array of other services to all the interested parties operating there. Then, it is clear that the undertakings revolving around the gas value chain happening in Soyo are going to have a huge impact on our business.
Finally, I hope that in 2024 an important boost in particular to our port operations might also come from the new refinery in Soyo, which is planned to have a capacity of 100,000 bpd (although I have also heard that it may be 150,000 bpd with a petrochemical component) and the large fertiliser plant project (AMUFERT). We are looking forward to all these developments. In short, when the economy in Soyo improves, our company’s performance follows.

What is the company’s approach towards environmental friendliness?
Sustainability and in particular environmental stewardship is at the core of our business strategy. Currently, we produce our own power from diesel generators, and to do so, we are using around 16,000 litres of diesel per year, which represents a significant cost both from an economic and environmental standpoint.
Our aim by 2024 is to stop generating our own power and connect to the power grid, which will mean a great decrease in our carbon footprint. To this end, we are implementing a major infrastructure project that looks to connect our base to the combined-cycle power plant in Soyo. We expect to have it finished by the end of 2023.

What is your standpoint regarding local content and promoting the capabilities of Angolan workers?
Human capital is of paramount importance for us because it adds significant value to our business. A company such as ours, with the magnitude and diversity of services we provide, requires a lot of human capital.
At the moment, our workforce – direct and temporary – amounts to over 700 people, and its growth is among Kwanda’s top priorities. In its founding statute, Kwanda states that it will dedicate 0.5% of its revenue to training and employee development.
Then, we are a local content company, and we will certainly keep supporting any domestic company seeking opportunities because by doing so, we increase our footprint too. We are more than keen to provide smaller local companies with the infrastructure and the set-up they require to thrive and make good business.

What are your objectives and strategy for the near future, and where do you see the company in five years?
My objectives are to keep my current clients happy and satisfied, grow our business by looking for new opportunities, increase our revenues and pay dividends to shareholders. To do these things, we need to make new investments in our infrastructure, equipment and human capital.
Kwanda’s strategy is fully dependent and directly connected to the strategy of our major clients. Having said that, we are also looking for opportunities in and around our traditional market base, being ready to go after all those projects and new clients that bring value to our shareholders and main lines of business.
We do not want to stick exclusively to activities around Soyo, as we are more than open to considering and exploring opportunities beyond our Kwanda Base. We look forward to providing our services wherever there is a need and room for growth for us.
In the longer run, the oil business will still be kicking big time in Angola, and Kwanda is very well suited to continue providing the services that it provides today. However, we will also be much more efficient and modern and deliver even better quality and deploy more advanced human capital that can meet the evolution of our clients’ demands.
I say so because we take into the highest consideration what is new in the industry. For instance, we focus on how the energy transition will impact the industry, and we are working to be fully equipped to face the new trends it will entail.
In short, this is our ultimate goal: to continue to evolve together with our clients, to facilitate them in their changing needs and to be ready to further diversify our offer, capitalising on the new projects that will take place around Soyo and beyond.

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