Nigeria’s Dangote mulls new oil pipeline links to South Africa, DRC: CEO in General Energy News 04/06/2026 Nigeria’s Dangote refinery is considering new oil pipeline projects in countries including South Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo to boost its market penetration in the region, its CEO said June 2 at the S&P Global Middle East Petroleum & Gas Conference in London. The Dangote Group commissioned its Nigerian refinery in 2024 and is advancing several large-scale infrastructure projects to support its operations across the continent. It is finalizing approvals for a 240-million-barrel tank farm in Namibia’s Walvis Bay and has discussed developing storage at its disused Sonara refinery in Cameroon, CEO David Bird said in an interview. In November, the company signed a memorandum of understanding in Harare, agreeing to build an oil products pipeline from its new depot in Walvis Bay to Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Zambia. “Probably the most developed is our Southwestern opportunity from the Namibia tank farm and then a pipeline through Botswana into Zimbabwe into Zambia—potentially down into South Africa and maybe as far up as into DRC,” Bird said at the event, hinting at more ambitious pipeline developments beyond the already announced 2,500-kilometer Walvis Bay link. To support shipments of smaller cargoes to countries such as Namibia, Dangote is developing a new four-berth marine jetty at its Nigerian refinery, capable of loading LR2s and other smaller ships. It has limited storage capacity on the refinery premises, which can pose challenges for more complex gasoline blending and trading optimization plans. Bird confirmed plans for Dangote to develop a second refinery in East Africa, mirroring the Nigerian blueprint, in a development he said would eventually grow the company’s total capacity from the 1.4 million barrel/day Nigerian target to 2.1 million b/d. Cost advantage Limited infrastructure and storage in African markets leave many countries rel