Business
Dangote considers buying Nigeria’s oil fields
Sabotage in the delta’s swamps and shallow waters reduced Nigeria’s oil output by 29 percent between 2006 and 2009, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Although the cases of sabotage eased after a government amnesty offer there have been instances in oil theft by gangs tapping crude from pipelines which pushed output down to 4-year lows last year.
Nigeria pumped about 1.9 million barrels of crude a day last month.
Dangote’s complex will include a 400,000-barrel-a-day refinery, a 2.8 million-metric-ton urea plant and a petrochemical factory to produce polypropylene, used to make plastics. The company plans to expand the refinery capacity by another 100,000 barrels, Edwin said.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation with about 170 million people, relies on fuel imports to meet most of its needs due to past mismanagement, poor maintenance and aging equipment at its 4 state-owned refineries. The federal government is in the process of divesting from running the refineries, and in addition Dangote’s planned refinery complex will cut fuel imports for the country in half, according to the company.
Aliko Dangote, who is co-chairman of this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos, has seen his wealth climb $US1.1 billion in the month to date, making him the world’s 27th richest person with a net worth estimated at US$24.9 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires’ Index.
Dangote Cement Plc., Africa’s biggest producer of the building material and Nigeria’s largest company, is looking at expanding in three South American countries and has signed a preliminary joint-venture agreement with one company.
“The countries we’re looking at have huge natural resources and growth,” said Edwin, declining to name the nations so as not to alert competitors. “There are many large players in that region” that “may easily try to shut down entry to new players, but there’s still large scope of doing business,” he said.
