Building the world’s largest single-train refinery in west Africa

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Covering a land area of approximately 2,635 hectares in the Lekki Free Zone near Lagos, Nigeria, the Dangote Petroleum Refinery is a 650,000 barrels-per-day (BPD) integrated refinery project under construction. It is expected to be Africa’s biggest oil refinery and the world’s biggest single-train facility, aiming to solve the country’s fundamental issue of oil shortages.

In 2012, China National Chemical Engineering Group Corporation Ltd. and Nigeria’s Dangote Group signed two successive contracts, worth over USD $100 million in total, for the construction of the key structures of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, including the crude oil distillation unit, the gasoline desulfurization unit, the hydro cracking unit, the naphtha hydrotreatment unit, the platinum reforming unit, the steel structures and the underground pipes. The project involves 28 small and medium-sized SANY excavators and 44 crane units which have been in operation for two years since the project began.

“The excavator I am driving prevails with its smooth operation, which is especially noticeable in the micromovements,” said an excavator operator. “I am also happy with the interior layout and design which is user-friendly and cozy. The air-conditioning has been fantastic; without it, I couldn’t have survived the local heat.”