Nigeria’s Dangote Group has taken another major step toward transforming its Lagos-based refinery into the world’s largest refining complex, after securing two significant international partnerships to drive its next phase of expansion.
During a press briefing in Mumbai on Wednesday, Aliko Dangote confirmed the signing of a new contract with Engineers India Ltd (EIL) to help double refining capacity to 1.4 million barrels per day (bpd) within three years.
The agreement follows a separate deal sealed recently with U.S.-based Honeywell, which will supply advanced technology and process solutions for the refinery’s upgraded units.
EIL, a premier engineering consultancy under India’s Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, served as Project Management Consultant and EPCM Consultant for the refinery’s first 650,000 bpd train, a milestone widely credited with reshaping Africa’s energy architecture.
The refinery, commissioned in 2024, produces Euro-V quality gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and polypropylene and is already altering fuel market dynamics across West Africa.
Dangote strengthens global partnerships as expansion accelerates
The newly signed memorandum of understanding positions EIL to manage the second train of the refinery, including a new propane dehydrogenation (PDH) unit that will scale polypropylene output from 830,000 tonnes per annum to 2.4 million TPA.
The expansion reinforces Nigeria’s ambition to emerge as a regional hub for refined products and petrochemicals, a goal further boosted by Honeywell’s involvement.
The Honeywell agreement, concluded earlier this month, will provide critical automation, digital optimisation, and advanced refining technologies required for the refinery’s expansion and future product slate.
The deal gives Dangote access to Honeywell’s global refining innovation systems, strengthening operational reliability and long-term efficiency.
“We deeply appreciate the exemplary manner in which EIL executed the First Train of our refinery complex… The signing of this MoU for the Second Train is a clear testimony to EIL’s sustained brilliance.”
EIL Chairperson and Managing Director Vartika Shukla described the project as globally significant. “The proposed expansion to 1.4 million barrels per day is a project of global significance and will stand among the largest refinery complexes at a single location,” she said.
With both the Honeywell technology agreement and EIL’s engineering partnership secured, the Dangote Refinery is firmly positioned to become the world’s largest single-location refining complex transforming Nigeria’s energy ecosystem and placing Africa at the centre of global downstream economics.
