Djibouti and Sultan Group explore Damerjog fuel-storage and trading projects

Djibouti’s ports and free-zones authority discussed petroleum storage and a fuel-trading platform with Sultan Group chief executive Fadul Mohammed Khair Sultan on 14 October, according to the national news agency ADI. Authority chairman Aboubaker Omar Hadi hosted the meeting at the Red Sea World centre. The proposals concern Damerjog’s liquid-bulk port and its connections to regional fuel markets. ADI reported that the site’s oil jetty has annual handling capacity of 25 million tonnes and can serve several terminals with combined static storage of roughly two million cubic metres. These are infrastructure figures communicated following the meeting, not volumes contracted by Sultan Group. A proposed trading platform would initially use floating storage belonging to Red Sea Bunkering. The parties also discussed international airlines based in Djibouti and development of a free zone. The report did not disclose a signed investment agreement, project cost, financing arrangements or construction schedule. Damerjog lies south of the capital and is central to Djibouti’s strategy to diversify port and logistics services, ADI reported, noting the country’s position at the entrance to the Bab el-Mandeb strait. Sultan praised the liquid-bulk port as advanced infrastructure. The aviation proposal was presented as a way to expand connectivity between regional and international markets, rather than an announced airline launch. Nexus analysis: The commercially significant possibility is combining terminal access with inventory and trading services for the Red Sea and East Africa. However, capacity does not establish utilisation or profitability. Binding storage agreements, customer commitments and financing would be needed to turn these exploratory discussions into a bankable project; aviation and free-zone proposals should likewise not be counted as approved investments.