By Abdulrahman Aliagan,
Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals has entered into a strategic partnership with Honeywell International Inc. to significantly expand the capacity and operational flexibility of Africa’s largest single-train refinery located in Lekki, Lagos.
The collaboration, disclosed by Honeywell on its official website, will see the United States–based industrial and technology giant supply advanced process technologies, proprietary catalysts, engineering services, and equipment to the Dangote Refinery. The upgrade is expected to enable the refinery to process a wider range of crude oil grades and nearly double its production capacity to about 1.4 million barrels per day (mbpd) by 2028.
Honeywell, a Fortune 100 company with operations spanning aviation, industrial automation, energy transition, and advanced materials, had a market capitalisation of about US$128 billion as of December 9, 2025, underscoring the scale and global significance of the partnership.
According to the disclosure, the deal will also support a major expansion in polypropylene production at the refinery, increasing output to approximately 2.4 million metric tonnes annually, up from the current 0.9 million metric tonnes per annum. This is expected to strengthen Nigeria’s petrochemical value chain and reduce dependence on imported refined and petrochemical products.
Industry analysts note that strategic technology partnerships have become a defining feature of large-scale refinery and petrochemical projects worldwide, particularly where operators seek to bridge technological and operational gaps while preparing assets for long-term competitiveness.
The Dangote–Honeywell collaboration builds on an existing commercial relationship that dates back to 2017. Under the new agreement, Honeywell will deploy its Oleflex technology, widely used in global petrochemical facilities, to enhance operational efficiency and product diversity at the Lekki-based refinery.
Market watchers have drawn parallels between the Dangote Refinery’s trajectory and global precedents such as Saudi Aramco’s partnership with TotalEnergies on the Amiral petrochemical complex in Jubail, Saudi Arabia.
That project, valued at about US$11 billion, preceded Aramco’s historic listing on the Saudi Stock Exchange in 2019, which later positioned the company among the world’s most valuable corporations.
Analysts at Proshare Research suggest that the Dangote–Honeywell pact could strengthen the refinery’s fundamentals ahead of any future plans to list the asset, either locally or internationally. Enhanced capacity, diversified feedstock processing, and improved petrochemical output are viewed as critical elements in building investor confidence and aligning with long-term strategic objectives, including Nigeria’s broader industrialisation goals.
With the refinery already reshaping Nigeria’s downstream petroleum sector, the latest partnership is expected to further consolidate its role as a cornerstone of energy security, industrial growth, and foreign investment attraction in the country
