The Commission on Public Establishments in Cameroon CTR has revealed that the State has the ambition to buy the shares of Total Outre-mer within the National Oil Refinery company SONARA. The cost of the purchase is estimated at 9.6 million US dollars (about 5.2 billion FCFA).
If the State were to buy out the shares of the operator TOTAL, the refinery would then be totally financed by the State of Cameroon. For the moment, SONARA is owned 4% by Total and 96% by the State (81.95%) and its divisions (SNH: 6.06% – CSPH: 4.22% and SNI: 3, 77%).
According to the CTR, SONARA has been bankrupt since 2014. Ravaged by a fire on May 31, 2019, the company’s debt has worsened with commitments to be honored in the more or less short term, from total amount of 898.38 billion FCFA.
Created on March 24, 1973, SONARA is a topping reforming refinery, that is to say simple. It was originally designed to process light crude (Arabian light). However, Cameroon currently produces heavy crudes. There is therefore a mismatch between the existing tool at the refinery and the crudes available. As a result of this, the company refines oil from other countries while the Government is forced to buy refined oil to feed the local market .
