Dangote Plans 600km Offshore Gas Pipeline in Nigeria

Dangote Industries plans to build a 600-kilometre offshore gas-gathering pipeline to connect offshore gas producers to shore, Group Vice President for Oil and Gas and Fertiliser Devakumar Edwin said during a tour of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Lagos on Friday.

Edwin said the engineering design for the East-West offshore gas-gathering project has been completed and construction is expected to begin soon.

"We want to run, in the first place, a 600-kilometre pipeline in the sea," he said, adding that offshore gas producers would be able to connect to the pipeline to deliver gas for processing, which could then either be treated and returned to the producers or purchased and used by Dangote.

He added that the project is intended to address Nigeria's shortage of infrastructure for transporting offshore gas to shore, a gap that has left some discoveries undeveloped. "When we strike a gas well, if it is full of gas, we just cap the well and sit it," he said.

Refinery complex already generates 650MW, fertiliser output set to quadruple

On power generation, Edwin said the Dangote refinery currently produces 501 megawatts to meet its own operational needs, while the adjoining fertiliser complex generates more than 150 megawatts, bringing total generation across the complex to more than 650 megawatts, all of which is consumed internally, including standby capacity.

He opined that the company could generate additional electricity for commercial sale in the future, but cited inadequate distribution infrastructure and weak revenue collection as the main obstacles, noting that Dangote has experience generating power using gas turbines, gas engines, coal and other thermal technologies.

Separately, Edwin disclosed that Dangote is expanding its fertiliser operations from 3 million tonnes to 12 million tonnes a year through four additional production trains in Nigeria and projects planned for Ethiopia and another African country, alongside expansions in chemical production including linear alkyl benzene, base oil and polypropylene.

These projects form part of a broader investment drive at Dangote, which is separately seeking to raise about N2.15 trillion through an ongoing initial public offering to fund expansion.

Edwin revealed that the refinery's processing capacity will be increased from 700,000 barrels per day to 1.4 million barrels per day within three years, with engineering work largely complete and major equipment already ordered, while the company is also developing pipelines and storage facilities across Africa to reduce dependence on road transport and improve fuel access in landlocked countries, part of its Vision 2030 strategy to expand industrial value addition across the continent.