Dangote to Double Refinery Capacity to 1.4 Million Barrels Per Day

The President and Chief Executive Officer of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has announced plans to expand the company’s oil refinery from its current 650,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 1.4 million bpd, making it the largest refinery in the world.
Dangote disclosed this in an interview with S&P Global, noting that the expansion would likely attract funding from the Middle East.
Earlier reports indicated that the refinery aimed to reach 700,000 bpd by the end of 2025. The new target, however, more than doubles that ambition, surpassing India’s 1.36 million bpd Jamnagar refinery, currently the largest globally.
Dangote said the expansion is part of his broader vision to strengthen Africa’s energy independence, describing the task as “herculean.”
“We have to build the refinery again, either here or somewhere else. But really, somewhere else is not possible because we already have the infrastructure here,” he said.
Since commencing operations, the Dangote Refinery, located in Lekki, Lagos, has made Nigeria a net exporter of diesel and jet fuel and is now supplying large volumes of petrol once imported from Europe.
Sources at the refinery confirmed that the facility was originally designed with room for expansion, with available space for a second refining system. Engineers say the upgrade could include a vacuum distillation unit to improve light-end fuel yields.
In addition to refining, Dangote Group plans to launch linear alkylbenzene and base oil projects, and expand polypropylene production from one million metric tonnes to 1.5 million mt annually.
Despite global concerns from the International Energy Agency (IEA) that refining capacity may exceed demand by 2030 — with a projected 11.4 million bpd surplus concentrated mainly in China and India — Dangote remains optimistic that Africa’s fast-growing energy needs will sustain demand.