The on-again off-again 1400 km Angola-Zambia Refined Petroleum Multi-Product (AZOP) Pipeline project will be the highlighted during talks between Angola and Zambia this month.

According to project planners Angola would ship refined products from the Angolan city of Lobito to Lusaka, Zambia's capital, which needs the fuels to further develop its copper industry, already one of the world's largest.

The AZOP Pipeline system would be designed to supply finished products including petrol, low sulphur diesel, Jet fuel and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) for Zambia, and Katanga Province in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It was to follow the development of a 200,000 b/d refinery that was expected to be commissioned in Angola by the beginning of 2014.

Given sustained Third Party Intervention in Nigeria which has caused oil production to drop by over 100,000 bpd over the past year, Angola is now producing more oil per day (at a rate of 1.649 million bpd) than Africa's most populous country.