Dangote Refinery adopts Honeywell AI platform, targets $60m yearly benefit

The Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Lekki, Lagos, is adopting a new industrial artificial intelligence (AI) platform from Honeywell Technologies, with the company projecting more than $60 million in yearly operational benefits once the plant runs at full capacity.

Honeywell announced the deployment on Monday. The platform, called Forge Plant Cognition, combines Honeywell's process engineering know-how with NVIDIA's AI computing and Dell Technologies' infrastructure, according to the company.

Honeywell said early estimates put the gains at over 29 cents per barrel processed. It stressed that the figures are preliminary and not guaranteed, and that actual results will depend on how the plant operates.

For ordinary Nigerians, the refinery's efficiency matters because it is one of the world's largest and is central to the country's refining plans. Better throughput and fewer breakdowns could raise output, though the sources do not say this will change pump prices.

What the platform does

Unlike systems that simply read data and suggest fixes, Forge Plant Cognition mixes live plant data with engineering knowledge and physics-based models. Honeywell says it helps operators spot production bottlenecks, catch potential equipment failures before they grow, and act faster.

The company also says the tool will make specialised engineering knowledge easier for plant staff to use, strengthening the skills of Nigerian engineers and operators.

David Bird, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals, said the choice reflected the company's push for innovation and local talent. "We chose Honeywell Technologies' Forge Plant Cognition because the platform can deliver unrivaled industrial expertise," he said, adding that it would help the refinery "evolve how we operate our assets."

Rajesh Gattupalli, President of Honeywell Technologies UOP, said industrial plants are "among the most complex operating environments in the world," with big potential to gain from digital tools.

Daily Trust reported that the Dangote facility will be the first industrial site anywhere to deploy the platform.

Part of a bigger expansion

The AI rollout comes as the refinery works to grow. In November 2025, Dangote Industries partnered with Honeywell to expand the Lagos plant from 650,000 barrels per day to 1.4 million barrels per day by 2028. In June 2026, the refinery raised crude processing to 700,000 barrels per day.

The partnership also stretches beyond Nigeria. In September 2026, Dangote picked Honeywell to provide engineering services, licensing and equipment for a planned 700,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Lamu County, Kenya.

The refinery has said it wants more than 70 per cent of its workforce to be Nigerians, cutting reliance on outside expertise.

What happens next: The sources do not give a start date for the platform or say how the projected savings will be measured. Nigerians will watch whether the efficiency gains show up in output as the refinery moves toward its 2028 expansion target.