The chairman of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has unveiled an ambitious plan to double the size of the refinery from 650,000 capacity to 1.4 million barrels per day, becoming the world’s largest
The billionaire disclosed in a recent interview that he plans to expand the refinery to 1.4 mbpd, from the current 650,000
Now, the target is to reach 1.4 mbpd, a scale that would surpass the world’s largest 1.36 mbpd refinery in Jamnagar, India,” the report said.
The Nigerian billionaire disclosed this in an interview with S&P Global recently
S&P Global reported that Dangote is seeking to double the refinery with Middle Eastern funding, making it the world’s largest
The refinery has turned Nigeria to a net exporter of diesel and jet fuel and supplies large quantities of petrol to West Africa.
According to Africa’s richest man, developing African energy independence was a daunting task
He said: “We have to build the refinery again, either here or somewhere else. But really, somewhere else is not possible because we’d have to go and spend so much building infrastructure, and we have the infrastructure already here.”
S&P Global projected that in Nigeria alone, the net petrol imports could more than double from 2026-2027 to hit 200,000 barrels per day by 2030, caused by economic development and growing population.
“In July, Dangote unveiled plans to expand the refinery from its current 650,000 bpd to 700,000 bpd by the end of the year.
Now, the target is to reach 1.4 mbpd, with no specified date, a scale that would surpass the world’s largest 1.36 mbpd refinery in Jamnagar, India,” the report said.
According to a Punch report, engineers at the Lekki complex had disclosed that it was designed with a room for expansion, pointing out empty plots that could hold a second refining system.
Expansion could involve building a second refinery with the same configuration, one engineer confirmed, with the addition of a vacuum distillation unit to enhance light ends yields.
Reports quoted Dangote as saying that the company was working on potential linear alkylbenzene and base oil projects, aiming to grow its annual polypropylene capacity from one million metric tonnes to 1.5 million in the next few years.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) has said that the world will have about 11.4 million barrels per day more refining capacity than it needs in five years, which will be concentrated in China and India.
However, Dangote was said to have rejected a plan that leaves Africa dependent on fuel imports and remains determined to disrupt a market marked by economies of scale. The industrialist warned that Africa will be in trouble without a huge private investment.
According to him, most African governments will lack the capacity to build refineries, calling smaller projects such as Angola’s new Cabinda facility a drop in the ocean.
Experts said the company’s own maturing debt was seen as a key funding hurdle before securing a critical $4 billion financing agreement in August
To expand the facility and develop new petrochemicals in China, Dangote is seeking a strategic partnership with Middle Eastern firms. He stated that the company’s business is going to change, saying that instead of 100% ownership by Dangote, it would have partners.
A prior Legit.ng report disclosed that the refinery would list 5-10% of its shares on the Nigerian stock exchange
With the new expansion plan, Dangote is seeking to put Nigeria and Africa on the global map as top destinations for refined petroleum products.
