Côte d’Ivoire: "The second refinery will be located in San Pedro"

A little over a year after signing a memorandum of understanding with the American firm Yaatra Ventures, Côte d’Ivoire is clarifying the details of its second refinery project. The facility will be built in San Pedro (southwestern Côte d'Ivoire), with a processing capacity of 170,000 barrels per day, and is expected to be completed before 2040.

The project for Côte d’Ivoire’s second refinery is gaining clarity. The Minister of Mines, Petroleum, and Energy, Mamadou Sangafowa-Coulibaly, confirmed on July 24, 2026, in Yamoussoukro, that the future infrastructure will be constructed in San Pedro, in the southwestern part of the country.

The facility will feature a capacity of 170,000 barrels per day—nearly three times that of the Société Ivoirienne de Raffinage (SIR), according to the Minister. Its completion is scheduled before 2040 as part of the Integrated Policy for Mineral Resources and Energy (PIRME), a 38,000 billion FCFA program, with 88% of the funding expected to come from the private sector.

This announcement brings major clarification to a project launched over a year ago. In May 2025, SIR signed a memorandum of understanding with the American company Yaatra Ventures for the construction of a second refinery in Côte d’Ivoire. The potential investment was then estimated at more than 3,000 billion FCFA (over 5 billion US dollars).

While the principle of this new plant had been agreed upon, its exact location had never been officially disclosed. The announcement made in Yamoussoukro puts an end to speculation: San Pedro will host one of the most significant industrial projects in the history of the Ivorian oil sector.

Why San Pedro?

Initially, the project was meant to be located in Abidjan, along the coastline or in its immediate outskirts. However, land constraints appear to have led the authorities to favor San Pedro instead.

As the country’s second port city, San Pedro offers direct access to the Atlantic Ocean—a decisive advantage for both crude oil supply and the export of refined products. Its geographical position also opens onto markets in western Côte d’Ivoire as well as several neighboring countries, notably Guinea and Mali.

Beyond logistical considerations, this choice aligns with regional development strategy. By creating a second oil hub in San Pedro, the government aims to reduce the concentration of strategic infrastructure around Abidjan and enhance the resilience of the national energy network.

This direction is consistent with other investments announced regarding storage and distribution activities for the future refinery.

Eventually, San Pedro could evolve from a port primarily focused on agricultural and mining exports into a fully integrated energy platform, combining refining, storage, logistics, and ultimately petrochemical activities.

Processing More Crude Locally

The future refinery primarily meets the scaling needs of the Ivorian oil sector.

Major offshore discoveries such as Baleine and Calao have profoundly transformed the country's production prospects. Their progressive development is set to significantly increase the volumes of crude oil available in the coming years.

For authorities, the challenge is to refine a substantial portion of this resource within national borders rather than exporting it raw. Without additional refining capacity, the production surge would mainly boost raw crude exports, limiting local industrial benefits.

The second refinery is specifically designed to capture a larger share of this value added by locally producing fuels and other derivatives for both the domestic Ivorian market and neighboring countries.

The project also meets growing energy demand driven by population growth, urbanization, expanding transport networks, and industrialization.