Dangote, India’s EIL Strike $350m Expansion Deal to double Lagos refinery capacity

Dangote, India’s EIL Strike $350m Expansion Deal to double Lagos refinery capacity 

In a move that reads like a bold industrial manifesto, Dangote Group has sealed a $350 million pact with India’s state-owned engineering heavyweight, Engineers India Ltd (EIL), to expand its Lagos-based refinery and petrochemicals complex—an ambition that could reshape Nigeria’s energy future and tilt Africa away from imported fuels.

The agreement sets the stage for a massive leap in refining capacity, lifting output from 650,000 barrels per day to an eye-catching 1.4 million barrels per day.

If realised, the expansion would catapult the Dangote facility into the rare league of the world’s largest single-location refinery complexes, reinforcing its status as a global energy landmark.

At the heart of the deal is a renewed partnership between Dangote and EIL, the firm that helped deliver the refinery’s first phase. Under the fresh $350 million contract, EIL will once again act as Project Management Consultant (PMC) and Engineering, Procurement and Construction Management (EPCM) consultant, overseeing the addition of a second processing train and the rollout of advanced, Euro VI–compliant fuel production.

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Located in the Lekki Free Zone, the Dangote Refinery has already become a symbol of Nigeria’s industrial aspirations. Conceived as a response to decades of fuel import dependence, the complex marks a strategic shift for Africa’s largest crude oil producer—from exporter of raw oil to producer and exporter of refined products.

Built at an estimated cost of $19 billion, the refinery ranks among the most expensive industrial projects ever undertaken on the continent. Officially inaugurated in May 2023, it has been ramping up operations in carefully sequenced phases. By early 2024, it began producing diesel and aviation fuel, later adding petrol—milestones that signalled a turning point for Nigeria’s energy supply chain.

Even before expansion, the existing 650,000-barrel-per-day facility is recognised as the world’s largest single-train refinery, producing Euro-V quality gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and polypropylene. To support its technical demands, Dangote Oil Refinery Company trained 150 engineers in India ahead of full operations.

Beyond fuels, the new phase pushes aggressively into petrochemicals. Dangote plans to triple polypropylene output from 830,000 tonnes per annum to 2.4 million tonnes, achieved through revamping its current unit, installing an additional 1.2 million-tonne plant, and deploying a world-scale 750 kTPA UOP Oleflex unit to strengthen propylene feedstock.

EIL described the contract as a reaffirmation of trust in its ability to deliver projects of extraordinary scale, pledging its decades-long expertise and global execution model to help build one of the world’s most advanced integrated energy complexes.

For Dangote Group—Africa’s largest multinational conglomerate with interests spanning cement, fertiliser, petrochemicals, mining, food and energy—the refinery sits at the centre of a broader industrial vision. While challenges around crude supply, pricing and regulation remain, the expansion promises to deepen Nigeria’s self-sufficiency, ease fuel shortages and position the country as a refining hub for West and Central Africa—an outcome with implications far beyond its shores.

 

Dangote, India’s EIL Strike $350m Expansion Deal to double Lagos refinery capacity