The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has filed tenders to sell two fuel cargoes for export, the first from the newly commissioned refinery, according to trading sources familiar with the subject. Nigerians have been excitedly awaiting the release of products from the $20 billion Dangote refinery, which was opened in May last year by former President Muhammadu Buhari.
On February 8, 2024, The PUNCH reported that Dangote Petrochemical Refinery’s plan to deliver aviation fuel (Jet A1) and diesel for sale in Nigeria in January had been halted due to pending regulatory permissions. According to the article, one week after the management of Africa’s largest refinery set a January 31 deadline to begin selling petroleum products in the local market, the refinery was still struggling to overcome the multiple levels of regulatory permissions.
It reported that the development occurred nearly a month after the refinery began producing petroleum products at the expansive plant. On January 12, 2024, Dangote Refinery stated that it has begun production of Automotive Gas Oil, also known as diesel, and aviation fuel, or JetA1.
The continent’s richest man built Africa’s largest refinery, which has a nameplate capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, on a peninsula on the outskirts of the commercial metropolis Lagos. Nigeria has long relied on expensive imports for nearly all of its fuel needs, but the $20 billion refinery is expected to transform the country into a net exporter of fuel to other West African countries, potentially shifting power and profit dynamics in the industry.
According to a Reuters report published on Wednesday, Dangote declined to comment. The oil company has likewise declined to respond to multiple inquiries by The PUNCH. The first cargo is 65,000 metric tons of low-sulphur straight run fuel oil, which Dangote has given to Trafigura and is scheduled to load at the end of February, according to three sources. Trafigura declined to comment.
At least one refiner stated that Trafigura had offered them the cargo without providing any further details. Three further sources confirmed that the second tender is for around 60,000 tonnes of naphtha. Two of them stated that the tender will close on February 15. Loading information was not immediately available.
Last week, sources told Reuters that the refinery was planning to send its first petroleum cargoes to the domestic market within weeks. The two fuels on offer are typical byproducts of running light sweet oil through a crude distillation unit in a refinery with no additional upgrading capacity.
Experts believe it will take months to bring upgraded units online. The refiner began importing petroleum in December of last year, with Nigeria’s state-owned oil business NNPC Ltd serving as the primary supplier. Dangote has also purchased some US oil and is scheduled to receive two million barrels of US WTI Midland in early March, according to LSEG and Kpler ship monitoring data.
