Dangote refinery hits 700,000 bpd, expansion targets 1.4 million bpd

Nigeria's Dangote Group announced that its Lekki refinery has been independently verified to process 700,000 barrels of crude per day, surpassing its earlier name‑plate capacity of 650,000 bpd. The assessment, carried out by the plant’s technology licensors, confirms the technical limit but does not yet indicate sustained commercial output.

Exports from the complex have more than doubled, rising from 168,000 bpd in February to 353,000 bpd in April, with roughly half of the product shipped to other African nations and significant volumes of jet fuel sent to Europe. The refinery is also the world’s largest exporter of aviation fuel for the month of April.

Dangote plans a major expansion that would add a second crude‑processing unit, bringing total capacity to about 1.4 million bpd by the end of 2028. The project includes a 2,500‑km pipeline network to supply Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Zambia, and could further extend into South Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The expansion is expected to strengthen Nigeria’s fuel security and give the country greater leverage in global fuel markets.