All is set for the commencement of the planned expansion of Dangote Refinery production capacity from 650,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 1.4 million bpd in the next three years.
The move, according to refinery management, comes alongside investments in petrochemicals such as polypropylene, base oils and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
The management also reaffirmed its commitment to supplying Nigerians with premium-quality petrol (PMS) that meets global standards, in line with its vision of ensuring energy security for Nigeria and Africa.
It added that despite global price fluctuations, its increased domestic refining capacity has shielded Nigeria from extreme volatility in international crude and product markets, helping maintain relatively stable pump prices.
The management also highlighted the crude-for-naira arrangement as a strategic measure to conserve foreign exchange and support naira’s stability.
The Chief Executive Officer, Dangote Refinery, David Bird, at a media parley yesterday, also restated that the refinery would be listed on the NGX “soon.”
Bird did not give the volume of equities to be listed. Recall that the President, Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote, had at a media briefing last year, hinted that the firm was ready to “give Nigerians the opportunity to buy and own the refinery by as much equity as they want to give them a sense of ownership that it is their own.”
Although silence still surrounds the listing date, feelers from the facility indicate that this may commence in the second quarter of this year.
Bird’s optimism of a three-year timeframe for the Refinery’s expansion is hinged on a replication strategy, which he noted is designed to avoid the cost overruns and delays that often plague large energy projects.
“We are firmly of the belief that we can bring this expansion online within three years. If achieved, the expansion would rank among the fastest large-scale refinery builds globally, underscoring Dangote Group’s ambition to position the facility not just as a national asset, but as a globally competitive refining hub,” he said.
According to him, the Refinery will pursue what he described as a “roofless replication” of its existing configuration, essentially copying the current design without reopening detailed engineering work.
This, he added, would allow the company to fast-track procurement and construction by relying on proven specifications rather than redesigning systems.
“Once you let engineers go back into an expansion, they often start to tinker, and that sends you back into months or years of detailed engineering. The idea here is replication. We will not need to reengineer, so we can get straight into ordering long-lead items and commencing construction,” Bird explained.
The expansion timetable rests on two sets of parallel activities beginning immediately. For instance, the company intends to place orders for long-lead procurement items, such as major equipment and process units, with the goal of completing those purchases this month.
According to Bird, one of the key advantages of the project is that most of the groundwork has already been done; the land earmarked for the expansion has been reclaimed, raised and prepared in advance, eliminating a major source of delay typical in large industrial projects.
He said: “If you look at the landscape, you can see that the land has already been raised by more than a meter compared with where it was in the past. All of that pre-investment has been done. None of the normal site-preparation timelines really apply here.”
Bird noted that because of early preparation, the refinery expects to see structural steel “coming out of the ground” as early as the end of this year, a milestone that would normally take much longer to reach on a greenfield site.
He emphasised the facility’s advanced design and operational flexibility, which enables sustained high output even during scheduled maintenance.
Bird explained that Dangote Refinery delivers world-class fuels meeting Euro V specifications to the Nigerian market, marking a decisive shift from the era of substandard imports.
“Our ability to export refined petrol to Europe and jet fuel to the Middle East underscores the quality and global competitiveness of our products.
“With our scale, efficiency, and product quality, we are positioned to compete globally while meeting Nigeria’s domestic needs. This investment fundamentally transforms Nigeria’s energy, industrial, and economic landscape,” he said.
The refinery operates a 24-hour loading system with capacity to evacuate over 1,000 trucks daily, ensuring uninterrupted nationwide distribution. Daily offtake has at times exceeded 52 million litres, reflecting strong market demand and improved logistics efficiency.
Describing the project as a “continent-building investment,” Bird expressed pride in its transformative impact:
“It’s no exaggeration to say this is a continent-building project. I arrived in August and stand on the shoulders of giants who have achieved incredible milestones to turn this part of Lagos into what has the potential to become a world-scale industrial hub.”
He added that the Refinery which is now focused on stabilisation and ramping up capacity, delivered more than 50 million litres of products per day in the second half of 2025, occasionally exceeding 52 million litres.
He attributed the performance to the Refinery’s unique design and the strategic foresight of Dangote Group founder, Aliko Dangote:
“We’re not just a traditional refinery. Thanks to Alhaji Aliko Dangote’s vision, we have the infrastructure to operate as a complete merchant refining, blending, and trading platform. Our feedstock is 100 per cent seaborne, giving us flexibility to process a wide variety of Nigerian and alternative crude grades,” Bird said.
SOURCE: The Nation
