Dangote Industries Limited has acquired 4,000 additional construction machines for the expansion of its Lekki refinery in Lagos, raising its equipment fleet to 6,500 machines, including 330 cranes.
The acquisition supports the company’s plan to increase the refinery’s processing capacity to 1.4 million barrels of crude oil per day.
The Group Vice President, Oil and Gas and Fertiliser, Devakumar Edwin, disclosed this on Friday during a briefing with editors who toured the facility in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos.
The scale of Dangote’s construction operation stems from challenges encountered during the refinery’s original development. When Julius Berger and other contractors indicated that they lacked the capacity to construct the main factory buildings, the company began acquiring the equipment needed to undertake the work itself.
Edwin said Dangote initially purchased 2,563 pieces of construction equipment, an investment that made the company the second-largest holder of construction machinery in the world at the time. The additional 4,000 machines have since taken it to the top of that ranking.
Julius Berger eventually constructed 43 of approximately 127 auxiliary buildings, including canteens, transformer rooms, control rooms and fire-fighting houses, but declined to handle the main process buildings.
The experience reinforced the need for industrial operators in Nigeria to develop their own heavy construction resources, particularly in an environment where specialised equipment is scarce.
Edwin recalled that when Dangote built its Apapa sugar refinery in 1998, Nigeria had only two large cranes, each with a lifting capacity of 150 tonnes.
The Lekki project required equipment on a far greater scale. Dangote hired one of only two 5,000-tonne cranes in the world and purchased 330 cranes for its operations.
The decision to build an in-house construction fleet also helped the company avoid the costs associated with relying entirely on foreign contractors.
According to Edwin, international engineering, procurement and construction firms had quoted fees equivalent to approximately 12.5 per cent of the refinery’s estimated $19.5bn capital cost. That would have amounted to about $2.5bn for design and supervision services.
Dangote rejected the arrangement.
Edwin recalled the group president pointing to a plaque on his desk bearing the inscription, “Nothing is impossible.”
The project was subsequently assigned to Dangote Projects Limited, which handled the detailed engineering, tender processes and direct procurement of materials, including nuts and bolts, while engaging contractors for construction.
The company’s preparation for the expansion is supported by infrastructure established during the refinery’s first phase. These facilities include a granite quarry with a 10 million-tonne capacity, 82 concrete batching plants, 203 transit mixers, a private port, an oxygen and welding-gas plant, and accommodation facilities for 50,000 workers.
Edwin said the existing infrastructure would be deployed for the expansion, reducing the cost and time required to execute the project.
Meanwhile, the refinery is already operating above its original design capacity.
The facility was designed to process 650,000 barrels of crude oil daily but is currently processing 700,000 barrels per day, Edwin disclosed.
“We have designed the refinery for 650,000, but we are now operating at 700,000. That is over 50,000 barrels per day above the design capacity. So the production volumes are even higher,” he said.
The refinery remains the world’s largest single-train petroleum refinery, with the previous largest facility of its kind having a capacity of 430,000 barrels per day.
Its production strategy combines domestic supply with exports. Under the original plan, 44 per cent of output was intended for Nigeria’s market, while 56 per cent was earmarked for export.
The facility was designed to produce Euro 5 and Euro 6-grade petroleum products and process various African crude grades, alongside United States West Texas Intermediate crude.
Edwin said 95 per cent of production comprises petrol, diesel and jet fuel, while the remaining five per cent includes carbon black feedstock, an industrial product.
Dangote’s refining plans also extend beyond Nigeria. Following the Lekki expansion and the construction of its planned 700,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Kenya, the group is expected to reach a combined refining capacity of 2.1 million barrels per day.
By investing in engineering, equipment and supporting infrastructure, Dangote Industries is developing the technical and logistical capacity to execute large-scale industrial projects with greater control over cost, procurement and construction.
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