Senegal Refines its First Batch of Petroleum Products

Created in 1961, Senegal’s Societe Africaine de Raffinage (SAR) never really took off. Last week, it finally announced it has successfully refined its first batch of 650,000 barrels of crude oil into 90,000 tonnes of various petroleum products, including diesel, kerosene, petrol and butane gas.

In June 2024, Australian firm Woodside Energy started extraction operations at #Sangomar offshore field off the west coast of Senegal. As per agreement, Woodside Energy will supply crude oil to the refinery in Mbao.

Senegal has been relying significantly on Nigeria for its energy needs. The Senegalese crude oil has a high sulphur content and the refinery plans to use a blend of 75% Senegalese and 25% Nigerian crude. The upgrade of the refinery was made possible via a syndicated loan arranged by Afreximbank for a total loan amount of USD 500 million.

During the FOCAC Summit in 2024 (#FOCAC2024), SAR signed another agreement with Sedin Engineering, a subsidiary of China National Chemical Engineering Company (CNCEC), to explore the construction of a second refinery and petrochemical plant (#SAR2).

The first refinery has an annual processing capacity of 1.5 millions tonnes of crude oil. When the second refinery comes online, the annual capacity will be increased to 5 million tonnes. In December 2024, Senegal also started producing natural gas near the border area with Mauritania, thanks to a joint venture between the two countries.

Eventually, Senegal plans to become self-sufficient in hydrocarbons and wean off all imports. As a second step, Senegal even plans to become a net exporter of petroleum products.