Cameroon's Sonara Refinery Gets $164 Million for Expansion

June 22 (Bloomberg) -- Cameroon's Sonara oil refinery, the lone crude processor in the central African nation, will receive 75 billion CFA francs ($164 million) from eight banks to fund its expansion, said Charles Metouk, the general manager.

The refinery, based in Limbe, about 350 kilometers (217 miles) southwest of the capital, Yaounde, will increase capacity to 4 million metric tons by 2015 from the current 2.1 million tons, he told reporters in the port city of Douala yesterday.

The lenders include U.K.-based Standard Chartered Plc, Societe Generale SA's unit in Cameroon, Lome-based Banque Atlantique and Commercial Bank Cameroon, Metouk said.

The refinery, which is currently able to only process light crude, will be able to refine heavy crude after the refurbishment, the type pumped in Cameroon, he said

--Editors: Emily Bowers, Philip Sanders.