Dangote Group has signed a $350 million expansion agreement with Engineers India Limited to significantly scale up its Lekki refinery, positioning it to become the largest single-site oil refining complex in the world.
Under the deal, the Nigerian conglomerate will expand the refinery’s capacity to 1.4 million barrels per day, more than double its current output. The project involves the construction of a second processing train, which would elevate the Lekki facility from Africa’s largest refinery to the biggest refinery complex located at a single site globally.
The expansion will also enhance product quality and output. Plans include upgrading fuel production to Euro VI specifications and tripling polypropylene capacity to 2.4 million metric tonnes per year, strengthening Nigeria’s petrochemical footprint.
Engineers India Limited, a state-owned engineering consultancy under India’s Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, will act as project management and engineering consultant. The firm previously played a similar role in developing the existing 650,000-barrel-per-day refinery, which began operations in 2024 and is currently the world’s largest single-train refinery.
Located in the Lekki Free Zone near Lagos, the refinery expansion is expected to address Nigeria’s long-standing dependence on imported refined petroleum products. Despite producing about 1.3 million barrels of crude oil daily, Nigeria has historically relied on fuel imports due to decades of underperforming state-owned refineries, placing pressure on foreign exchange reserves and exposing the economy to fuel supply disruptions.
Engineers India described the project as one of global importance, noting that it will rank among the largest refinery complexes ever built at a single location. The company has extensive experience delivering oil and gas, petrochemical, and infrastructure projects worldwide.
The second phase of the expansion will introduce production of Euro VI fuels, which comply with stricter emissions standards than the Euro V fuels currently produced. It will also involve revamping existing polypropylene units, constructing a new 1.2 million metric tonne facility, and installing a 750,000 metric tonne UOP Oleflex unit to supply propylene feedstock.
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