Key facts
- Dangote's Lekki refinery is operating at full capacity, exporting record levels of products to Europe.
- The company plans to add a new crude distillation unit to increase capacity to 1.45 million b/d.
- This expansion, if completed by December 2028, would make it the world's largest refinery.
- The refinery has diversified its crude slate to optimize gasoline and diesel production.
- Dangote is also considering a storage hub in Namibia and a new refinery in Kenya.
Dangote's 700,000 barrel per day (b/d) Lekki refinery has been operating at full capacity for two months, significantly impacting West African fuel trade and increasing product exports to Europe. The refinery's success has led to a nearly 25% year-on-year drop in imports of clean products into West Africa during the second quarter.
Building on this momentum, Dangote plans to add a new crude distillation unit (CDU) with a capacity of 750,000 b/d, alongside other secondary units. This expansion aims to bring the total capacity to 1.45 million b/d, which would make the Lekki refinery the largest in the world, surpassing India's Reliance Industries' Jamnagar complex. However, the target completion date of December 2028 for the new CDU is considered highly ambitious, given that the construction of the first CDU took eight years.
The refinery has primarily used Nigerian crude but has expanded its slate to include heavier grades and occasional cargoes from Libya, Cameroon, Ghana, and Guyana to optimize gasoline and diesel production. Product exports have been a major success, with jet fuel exports to Europe, particularly the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) hub, reaching a record 145,000 b/d in June. Diesel exports have been more regionally focused, supplying neighboring African markets.
Dangote is also exploring further expansion, including a proposed 1.6-million barrel gasoline and diesel storage hub in Walvis Bay, Namibia, and a potential new 700,000 b/d refinery in Mombasa, Kenya, estimated to cost $17 billion and take five years to build. The group's ambition is vast, but faces challenges related to security, infrastructure, and the execution of large-scale projects across Africa.