Galp-Moeve project fails in half-victory for Sonangol
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Mercado
The partnership project between Galp and Moeve has failed, depriving Angolan oil company Sonangol of a deal it considered harmful to its interests. Sonangol indirectly holds around 17% of Galp and opposed transferring part of the control of the Sines refinery, Mercado reports.
Sonangol, Angola’s state-owned oil company, sees the failure of negotiations between Portugal’s Galp and Spain’s Moeve as a half-victory, according to Mercado. The proposed agreement would have left Galp with only 20% of the refining activity at Sines, in Portugal, while Sonangol opposed the company relinquishing control of the refinery.
The project announced in January provided for two entities: an equally owned joint venture for service stations and a refining platform dominated by Moeve. The latter, formerly Cepsa, is majority-owned by Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala, with a 38% stake held by US fund Carlyle. Galp said the parties had not reached the commercial agreement needed for a sustainable partnership that would create long-term value, according to its chairwoman, Paula Amorim.
Sonangol indirectly holds around 17% of Galp through Esperaza, a Netherlands-based company. Esperaza owns 45% of Amorim Energia, a holding company that controls 37.51% of Galp’s voting rights; the Amorim group owns the remaining 55%. The Angolan company had not officially commented on the project but, according to Mercado, believed that Galp should not give up control of the Sines refinery.
The end of the negotiations revives a disagreement between Amorim Energia’s shareholders. Luanda had already voiced reservations when the Matosinhos refinery closed in 2021. On 16 October, legal expert Rui Verde also described the partnership as a further erosion of Angola’s influence over European energy decisions, Mercado reports.
