Dangote Industries Ltd. says it plans to develop a 600km 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 during a tour of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Lagos on Friday.

Mr 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 commence soon.

“We want to run, in the first place, a 600-kilometre pipeline in the sea,” Mr Edwin said.

He said offshore gas producers would be able to connect to the pipeline and deliver gas for processing.

According to him, the gas can either be treated and returned to the producers or purchased and utilised by the company.

Mr Edwin said the project would help address Nigeria’s inadequate infrastructure for transporting offshore gas to shore.

He said some gas discoveries remained undeveloped because of the lack of infrastructure to transport the resource to shore.

“When we strike a gas well, if it is full of gas, we just cap the well and sit it,” he said.

On power generation, Mr Edwin said the refinery currently generates 501MW to meet its operational requirements.

He said the fertiliser complex generated more than 150MW, bringing total power generation across the complex to more than 650MW.

“All of it is going for our own consumption, including standby capacity,” he said.

Mr Edwin, however, said the company could generate additional electricity for commercial use in the future.

He identified inadequate distribution infrastructure and revenue collection as major challenges to commercialising the additional power.

“The opportunity is there to generate power and go into it as a business,” he said.

He said Dangote had expertise in power generation using gas turbines, gas engines, coal and other thermal technologies.

Mr Edwin said the company was also expanding its fertiliser operations, with plans to increase production from three million tonnes to 12 million tonnes annually.

He said the expansion included four additional fertiliser trains in Nigeria, as well as projects planned for Ethiopia and another African country.

According to him, the company will also produce additional fertiliser products, including diammonium phosphate and single super phosphate.

He said the expansion would help meet growing fertiliser demand in Nigeria and other African countries.

Mr Edwin linked the expansion to the company’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, and add to the GDP,” he said.

He said the company was also expanding its chemical operations, including projects for linear alkyl benzene and base oil production.

Mr Edwin said polypropylene production would also be expanded as part of the company’s petroleum and petrochemical development programme.

The gas, power and industrial expansion projects are part of Dangote’s wider investment programme.

Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals is seeking to raise about ₦2.15 trillion through an ongoing initial public offering (IPO) to fund expansion and strengthen its capital base.

Mr Edwin said the refinery’s processing capacity would be increased from the current 700,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 1.4 millionbpd.

He said most engineering work for the refinery 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.

Mr Edwin also said the company was developing pipelines and storage facilities across Africa to improve fuel distribution and energy security.

According to him, the projects will reduce dependence on road transportation and improve access to petroleum products in landlocked countries.

He said the wider expansion programme formed part of the company’s Vision 2030 strategy to increase industrial value addition across Africa.

(NAN)