Dangote Refinery to expand capacity to 1.4 million barrels per day, becoming world’s largest

Nigeria’s Dangote Petroleum Refinery is set to more than double its processing capacity from 650,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 1.4 million bpd.

Once the upgrade is completed, the refinery will become the largest in the world by capacity, overtaking India’s Jamnagar Refinery.

Aliko Dangote, President of the Dangote Group, confirmed the expansion during a press briefing in Lagos on Sunday.

“We are more than doubling the barrels… to 1.4 million from 650,000,” Dangote told news conference in Lagos. This will make it the largest refinery” in the world, surpassing India’s Jamnagar Refinery,” he said.

The billionaire industrialist, who recently reached the $30 billion mark on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, becoming the first African to hit that milestone, said a deal has already been signed to commence the upgrade of the refinery.

The expansion project is expected to create around 65,000 jobs during construction, while driving deep industrial linkages across the economy.

Beyond fuel production, the upgrade will sharply expand petrochemical output. Polypropylene capacity is set to rise from 900,000 to 2.4 million metric tonnes a year, ensuring a greater supply of key industrial inputs such as linear alkylbenzene for detergents and base oils for lubricants.

As part of its modernisation push, the refinery will upgrade to Euro VI fuel standards, placing Nigeria among the world’s leaders in cleaner fuel production. The complex will also expand its power generation capacity, allowing for full operational independence from the national grid.

Dangote said more than 85% of the workforce on the project will be Nigerian, a deliberate investment in skills development and technology transfer.

The expansion phase is expected to generate at least 65,000 construction jobs, with long-term benefits for local supply chains, power infrastructure, and industrial growth. The company is also scaling its own power generation capacity to ensure the facility remains fully self-sufficient.

In a nod to transparency and broader ownership, Dangote disclosed that 10% of Dangote Refinery & Petrochemical shares will be listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange within the next year, opening the door for local investors to participate in what has become one of Africa’s most consequential industrial projects.

With the festive season approaching, Dangote assured Nigerians that the refinery will help maintain a steady fuel supply despite global price pressures, a move he hopes will ensure a December “free of queues and panic at filling stations.”

He called on holders of the remaining 30 refinery licences in Nigeria to accelerate their projects, saying the continent’s future depends on controlling its own energy pipeline.

“When Africa builds its own capacity, it builds its own destiny.”