By 2028, Dangote refinery will be world’s largest – Dangote

Chairman of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has said the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals is expected to become the world’s largest refinery by 2028.

Dangote disclosed this on Monday during the preliminary signing ceremony for the proposed initial public offering (IPO) of the refinery.

He said the facility, which has a capacity of 700,000 barrels per day, would achieve the global ranking after its planned expansion.

The refinery, located in Lagos, is currently the largest in Africa and the world’s largest single-train refinery.

Dangote said the expansion would further increase the facility’s capacity and strengthen its position in the global refining industry.

“As we gather today to witness the preliminary activities that will set in motion the initial public offering of the 700,000 barrels per day in the Dangote refinery and petrochemicals, the largest refinery in Africa, world’s largest single train, and soon to be the largest refinery by 2028 in the world history,” Dangote said.

He described the IPO process as a significant milestone for the company, Nigeria and Africa.

‘Banks backed us without seeing licence’

Reflecting on the development of the refinery, Dangote said the project began more than a decade ago, with the backing of its bankers.

According to him, the lenders demonstrated confidence in the project despite not having seen the refinery site or its licence at the time.

“Today also shows that nothing is impossible for us to achieve once we are focused and determined,” he said.

Dangote said the group’s Vision 2030 agenda was focused on accelerating Africa’s industrialisation, stressing that energy security was critical to achieving the objective.

“We have learned the hard way, and we cannot industrialise if we do not have the energy security,” he said.

He said the group had consequently focused its investment strategy on strengthening energy security in Nigeria while expanding its industrialisation drive to other African countries.

Dangote said the group had announced expansion plans in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Namibia and other countries, adding that its investments were encouraging other entrepreneurs to participate in Africa’s industrialisation.

On the proposed share offering, he said ownership would be open to investors without segregation.

“There is no segregation on who can own the shares,” he said.

“We want every human being living on the continent to be part of this action.”

Also speaking, the Chief Executive Officer of Dangote Refinery, David Bird, said the facility was operating as a merchant refinery serving Nigeria and markets across West Africa.

Bird said the refinery had also expanded its reach into international markets, adding that it was the largest supplier of jet fuel to Europe.

He said the refinery had performed strongly over the past six months, helping to cushion the impact of supply disruptions associated with conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine.

According to him, the refinery can process different grades of crude and supply multiple international markets.

Bird said the 700,000-barrels-per-day facility was the largest refinery in Africa and ranked among the five or six largest globally.

He said the planned expansion had been sponsored, engineered and procured, with construction remaining the major outstanding phase.

“This is now just a construction exercise that we believe we can deliver by 2028 to make the Dangote refinery the largest integrated refinery and petrochemical complex on the planet,” Bird said.

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