The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has started building a large fuel storage facility in Walvis Bay, Namibia. The new facility will hold up to 1.6 million barrels of petrol and diesel. This is part of Dangote’s plan to expand its fuel supply to more African countries.
The refinery, which cost $20 billion to build, began operations in Nigeria last year. It can produce 650,000 barrels of oil per day and was created to help Nigeria reduce fuel imports and meet local demand. Now, Dangote is looking to export more fuel to Southern African countries.
The new storage tanks in Namibia will help deliver petrol and diesel to Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Namibia, and may even reach the southern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Sources say the storage tanks will be built inside Walvis Bay harbor, and the construction work is expected to begin soon. An officer from the Namibia Ports Authority has confirmed the storage plans.
This move shows Dangote’s ambition to become a key fuel supplier across Africa. Just last month, the refinery shipped fuel outside West Africa for the first time, sending a delivery to Asia.
In addition to the Namibia project, the refinery is also building eight more tanks in Nigeria to store more crude oil. This will raise its storage capacity by over 40%, allowing it to hold up to 3.4 billion liters of crude oil.
Meanwhile, Dangote Refinery has also increased its petrol price to N880 per litre, up from N828. As the main local producer of petrol, the refinery’s pricing has a big influence on the market.
With these new developments, Dangote is not only working to meet Nigeria’s fuel needs but is also aiming to become a major supplier of fuel across the African continent and beyond.