Dangote acquires Dutch engineering company to support gas pipeline project

17 Oct 2016
Financial Nigeria

Summary

Dangote Industries aims to deploy Twister’s technology to design and build gas plants.

Aliko Dangote, President and Chief Executive, Dangote Group

Dangote Industries Limited (DIL) has partnered with First Exploration and Petroleum Development Company (First E&P) to acquire Twister B.V., a Dutch engineering company, for an undisclosed fee. DIL acquired Twister from Shell Technology Ventures Fund 1, according to a statement released on Sunday.

“This was an important acquisition for us,” said Aliko Dangote, President of Dangote Industries Limited. “Twister’s cutting-edge gas processing technology is fundamental to delivering our strategy to unlock about three billion cubic feet per day of gas in order to meet Nigeria’s gas needs.”

Twister provides sophisticated gas producing modules to upstream and midstream oil and gas companies around the world. Gas plants fitted with Twister’s technology are cheaper to build and operate and they deliver better performance compared to alternative technologies, according to DIL. Twister has customers in Nigeria, Malaysia, and South America.

“We are delighted by the confidence that the DIL and First E&P have shown in Twister to be their core provider of gas separation solutions,” said John Young, Twister’s CEO. “After very thorough due diligence, our technology has been recognised as a key enabler to reduce gas project costs, which is crucial in the current environment; we are excited to be part of the Dangote family of companies.”

DIL is currently constructing a subsea gas pipeline and petrochemicals complex – which includes a refinery and fertilizer plant – in Lagos for about $17 billion. When completed, the gas pipeline will have a capacity to process 1.5 billion standard cubic feet of gas per day while the refinery will process 650,000 barrels of oil per day. The fertilizer plant will also produce 2.8 million metric tonnes per annum of urea and ammonia.

DIL said it aims to use Twister’s technology to design and build gas plants, which will be critical in processing gas from oil fields for transportation via the planned subsea pipeline to industrial customers and power plants. “The acquisition complements DIL’s portfolio of investments in the upstream, midstream and downstream segments of the Oil & Gas sector,” the Nigerian company said.

Dangote Industries is one of Nigeria’s largest conglomerates with operations in cement, sugar, salt, flour, pasta, noodles, poly products, logistics, and real estate. The company is controlled by its eponymous founder, Aliko Dangote, who is Africa’s richest man.


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