Dangote Industries Ltd. plans to develop a 600-kilometre offshore gas-gathering pipeline as its refinery and fertiliser complex generates more than 650 megawatts (MW) of electricity.
Devakumar Edwin, Group Vice President, Oil and Gas and Fertiliser, Dangote Industries Ltd., disclosed this on Friday during a tour of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Lagos.
Edwin said the East-West offshore gas-gathering project would connect offshore gas producers to a pipeline for transporting gas to shore.
He said the engineering design had been completed and construction was expected to begin soon.
“We want to run, in the first place, a 600-kilometre pipeline in the sea,” Edwin said.
He explained that offshore gas producers would be able to connect to the pipeline and transport gas to shore for processing.
According to him, the gas could either be treated and returned to the producers or purchased and utilised by Dangote.
Edwin said the project would help address inadequate infrastructure for transporting offshore gas to shore, noting that some gas discoveries remained undeveloped because of the lack of such infrastructure.
“When we strike a gas well, if it is full of gas, we just cap the well and sit it,” he said.
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On power generation, Edwin said the refinery currently generates 501MW to meet its operational requirements, while the fertiliser complex produces more than 150MW.
This brings total power generation across the complex to more than 650MW, he said.
“All of it is going for our own consumption, including standby capacity,” Edwin said.
He, however, said the company could generate additional electricity for commercial use in the future, identifying inadequate distribution infrastructure and revenue collection as major challenges to commercialising the surplus power.
“The opportunity is there to generate power and go into it as a business,” he said.
Edwin said Dangote had expertise in power generation using gas turbines, gas engines, coal and other thermal technologies.
He also disclosed that the company was expanding its fertiliser operations, with plans to increase production from three million tonnes to 12 million tonnes annually.
The expansion includes four additional fertiliser trains in Nigeria, as well as projects planned for Ethiopia and another African country.
According to him, the company would also produce additional fertiliser products, including diammonium phosphate and single super phosphate, to meet growing demand in Nigeria and other African countries.
Edwin linked the expansion to Dangote’s strategy of processing locally available raw materials into higher-value products.
“We want to take the raw materials from the countries and add value, create employment, add to the GDP,” he said.
He added that the company was expanding its chemical operations, including projects for linear alkyl benzene and base oil production, while polypropylene production would also be increased as part of its petroleum and petrochemical development programme.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the gas, power and industrial expansion projects form part of Dangote’s wider investment programme.
Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals is seeking to raise about N2.15 trillion through an ongoing initial public offering (IPO) to fund expansion and strengthen its capital base.
Edwin said the refinery’s processing capacity would be increased from the current 700,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 1.4 million bpd.
He said most of the engineering work for the expansion had been completed, while major equipment had been ordered.
“We are targeting for three years, and probably we may be even doing faster,” he said.
Edwin also said the company was developing pipelines and storage facilities across Africa to improve fuel distribution and energy security.
He said the wider expansion programme formed part of Dangote’s Vision 2030 strategy to increase industrial value addition across Africa.
