Johannesburg - South Africa and Angola are close to signing an oil deal that could see South African national oil company PetroSA enter exploration and refining operations in Angola, state media said on Tuesday.
PetroSA is in negotiations with Angola's parastatal oil firm Sonangol to enter into crude production, deep-water exploration and refinery operations in oil-rich Angola, South African Energy Minister Elizabeth
Dipuo Peters said on Monday, according to state daily Jornal de Angola.
Speaking at the end of a visit to Luanda to meet with Angolan Oil Minister Jose Botelho de Vasconcelos, Peters said an agreement between PetroSA and Sonangol could be signed later this month, when Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos visits South Africa, the newspaper reported.
"The petroleum industries of South Africa and Angola have all the right conditions to complement each other," De Vasconcelos said.
Under the deal, PetroSA could get a stake in Angola's new Lobito refinery, De Vasconcelos said.
Construction on the 200,000-barrel-a-day refinery is due to begin later this year after repeated delays.
When finished in 2014, it is expected to end Angola's dependence on imports of refined petroleum products.
Angola, which vies with Nigeria for the title of Africa's largest oil producer, pumps 1.9 million barrels of oil a day but currently imports 50% of its refined fuel.
Peters said South Africa, which is also at work on a 350,000-barrel-a-day refinery, wants to increase imports of Angolan crude.
South Africa produces just 35,000 barrels of oil a day, but has the continent's second-highest refining capacity after Egypt.
Peters said southern Africa has the potential to become energy independent if the countries of the region cooperate.
The deal would expand on one signed last year during a visit by president
Jacob Zuma to Luanda, under which the two countries pledged to work together in the areas of exploration, refining and distribution.