By NOELA EBOB BISONG
Sunday, May 31, 2020 marked exactly one year since Cameroon’s lone refining company, SONARA in Limbe, South West Region recorded its worst explosion ever, since the refinery went operational in 1981. The explosion was said to have occurred around 9:30pm Friday, May 31, 2019. The unprecedented event led to the temporary suspension of production in all the units in SONARA and put all contractual engagements on halt.
No lives were lost in the incident, but the material damage was colossal, estimated in hundreds of billions of FCFA.
What happened?
Loud explosions were heard across Limbe at about 9:30pm, on the night of Friday, May 31, 2019 which were noted to have emanated from a tank at the National Oil Refinery, SONARA that caught fire. The National fire-brigade intervened to successfully wrestle the raging flames alongside the SONARA fire fighters for many hours until dawn, June 1. The news of the incident spread like the wild fire itself, and locals in the area hurriedly struggled to evacuate the vicinity same night, with some obtaining injuries. Some private structures were affected by the explosion.
The cause
Following the incident, a fact-finding commission was put in place by Prime Minister, Chief Dr. Joseph Dion Ngute on the instructions of President Biya, and given a 30-day deadline to produce findings into the exact cause of the fire. At press time, the report was still to be made official. However, far from suspicions that the incident must have been orchestrated by separatist fighters, The SUN has gathered from unofficial sources that the explosion was as a result of a technical fault which occurred at the refinery.
The damage
Fire is said to have broke out at the crude oil distillation unit, spreading to four other production units as well as to some offices. Though the material damage was enormous, The SUN learnt that the new production line was not touched by the incident, as on-going extension had not connected both sites. However, the loss is huge, though there was no human casualty.
Immediate response
Minister of Energy and Water Resources, Eloundou Essomba Gaston, arrived Limbe Saturday, June 1, 2019, hours following the explosion, to ascertain its degree. Officials of the National Refining Company immediately held a crisis meeting with the Minister and other key stakeholders to get a way forward. The company also declared a situation of “Force Majeure” and a temporary suspension of their contractual engagements pending an evaluation of the damage.
In the document released by SONARA’s General Manager, Simo Njonou Jean-Paul following the in-camera meeting, he said the indefinite shutdown comes after fire razed down portions of the refinery. The statement read in part that: “As a result of the unfortunate incident, the company declares a case of force majeure and a provisional suspension of all contractual engagements pending an evaluation of the situation.” The General Manager of SONARA said then that information on the end of the force majeure will be made available at the appropriate time.
“We are at your disposal for any further information and we assure you of all our efforts to resume our activities as soon as possible.” However, public communication at the refinery has gone mute since then.
Tension mounts
The days during the probing by the Prime Ministerial Commission will not be an easy one for SONARA workers, especially top management, as the grilling began with Simo Njonou himself. Later, five directors were detained as investigations continued, with speculations, tension and uneasy calm characterising the refinery. Uncertainty on which heads will roll, retrenchment and salary cuts were high. Simo Njonou was perceived by some as the wrong man at the right place at the wrong time! While some opinions were that the explosion portrayed his incompetence to manage one of the nation’s jewels, others were sympathetic enough to voice that it was indeed a sad situation for Simo Njonou, barely five months into office. At press time, he was still SONARA’s GM.
How SONARA managed to avoid fuel scarcity in the Cameroon market and beyond
SONARA normally produced 20 percent of Cameroon’s gasoline demand, with the rest imported. The 42,000 barrel-per-day SONARA refinery also supplied to other countries in the region, including Nigeria, Togo and Ghana. Following the explosion, the anxiety that was already rising over the imminent scarcity of fuel in the country, was watered down by a communiqué from the Minister of communication, Rene Emmanuel Sadi, which stated that government was taking the necessary measures to make sure there is uninterrupted fuel supply throughout the national territory. Hence, both the state and SONARA have been working to ensure extra imports to cover the shortfall and avoid fuel shortage. (There is no production, but there is buying and selling, with minimal profit). As a result, things have remained almost normal in the fuel sector in the country.
History
Created in 1973 and inaugurated in 1981, SONARA deals in products like butane, gasoline, jet fuel, kerosene, fuel oil, distillate. Its principal activity is refining crude oil. The refinery was said to have a capacity of 2,100,000 tons/year. It was conceived at first to treat light crude (Arabian light), but later went into producing heavy crudes. SONARA is almost entirely state owned apart from a 4% stake held by Total. It runs on a capital of FCFA 23 billion. Simo Njonou Jean Paul has been General Manager of SONARA since January 14, 2019.
What future?
Well, the good news for most SONARA workers and their families has been that the Simo Njonou team has been able to weather the storm internally to ensure that the staff force remains intact with no retrenchment. Also, there’s been no payroll cut The SUN has gathered, though some fringe benefits have witnessed some level of decrease.
Equally, though SONARA is down, the national market is still working unperturbed due to commercial activity.
However, the four units which were razed by the explosion still were the ugly look! The reconstruction of the units, estimated at hundreds of billions of FCFA is yet to commence. Efforts to get official insights into the situation by The SUN were abortive but The SUN was able to gather that a lot of negotiation works to get the most “convincing” engineering crew to man the reconstruction has been what has taken centre stage at the refinery over the past months. Unofficial sources revealed SONARA has almost succeeded on the quest, though it is not yet confirmed whether the team is from Russia, as it earlier filtered out.
Also, The SUN cannot independently confirm reports that plans are underway to channel the refinery to Kribi.
However, the truth remains that the 2019 explosion at the National Refining Company, (SONARA) has created an economic puzzle for the state, already plunged in diverse political, social and health issues, with the daily increasing recorded positive cases of the novel coronavirus currently causing panic nationwide.