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Portugal Energy and Mineral Resources
Portugal produced less than a quarter of its primary
energy
requirements and depended heavily on imported hydrocarbon
fuels,
mainly petroleum. Although efforts were made to locate
domestic
petroleum deposits in the early 1970s, none were found.
Coal
accounted for less than 5 percent of Portugal's primary
energy
use. Apparent consumption in 1988 was around 2.9 million
tons, of
which 240,000 tons were mined domestically. Portugal's
low-grade
anthracite coal, the production of which had stagnated
since the
mid-1970s, was mined near Porto. The United States had
emerged as
Portugal's main supplier of metallurgical and steam coal.
A
5-million-ton-per-year capacity coal terminal, capable of
handling 150,000 deadweight-ton vessels, was scheduled to
be
completed at Sines early in the 1990s. Because Portugal
had no
known natural gas reserves, the government as of mid-1988
was
planning to build a liquified natural gas terminal at
Setúbal and
a gas distribution network. Portugal's hydroelectric
potential
was well developed and provided nearly half of the
economy's
electricity requirements.
As a result of Portugal's accession to the EC, the
country's
energy sector was rapidly being deregulated and
diversified. The
state electric power company, Electricidade de Portugal
(EDP),
planned to invest US$700 million between 1990 and 1995 on
dams
and hydroelectric equipment. In 1990 EDP completed its
second
coal-burning power plant station to reduce its dependency
on
imported oil. In addition, coal consumption in the cement
industry was forecast to grow as more facilities converted
to
coal from fuel oil.
Portugal's metallic mineral resources were more
impressive
for their variety than for their contribution to GDP. The
most
important mines were in the north, in the mountains of
Beira,
where tungsten, tin, chromium, and other alloy minerals
were
mined in commercial quantities. Iron ore was mined in
Moncorvo in
the upper Douro Valley; formerly exported in its entirety,
the
Moncorvo mine production came to supply the government's
integrated iron and steel works at Seixal near Lisbon and
its
Maia electric steel plant near Porto. Portugal was a
significant
world source of tungsten concentrate, most of which was
exported.
The mine had an annual production capacity of 1,400 tons
of
tungsten concentrate.
Portugal's metallic mineral production was greatly
enhanced
upon the completion of the US$200 million Neves Corvo
copper mine
near Castro Verde in southern Portugal--the largest
non-coal
mining development project in Western Europe. An estimated
33
million tons of 7.8 percent copper were proven at the site
as of
1986. The concentrator initially would process one million
tons
of ore annually, yielding 400,000 tons of concentrate
containing
nearly 150,000 tons of copper. The Neves Corvo operating
company
was owned 51 percent by the government and 49 percent by
RTZ
Metals Group of Britain.
Data as of January 1993
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