The first cargo of Nigerian gasoline produced at the Dangote refinery has reportedly arrived at its destination in the United States.
Reuters, citing unnamed sources in the know and ship-tracking data, said the gasoline cargo was arranged by Sunoco and commodity trader Vitol. VesselFinder reported that Gemini Pearl, a Panama-flagged oil product carrier, was currently located in the Port of New York, arriving there on Sunday.
Most of the cargo, which stands at 320,000 barrels, was sold to Sunoco, with Vitol set to keep the rest for itself.
Reuters further reported that another cargo of gasoline produced at the Dangote refinery had been sold by Glencore to Shell and was set to be delivered in New York on September 19.
The publication noted in its report that the two cargoes were evidence that the Dangote refinery had met the strict U.S. requirements for the quality of fuels that can be marketed in the United States. According to Reuters, it was a major milestone for the Nigerian refinery.
The 650,000-barrels-daily refinery is the first in Nigeria, property of Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, whose ambition is to both secure fuel supply for the domestic market in Africa’s top crude oil exporter, and turn the country into a fuel exporter as well. The refinery’s capacity should allow it to satisfy domestic demand in full and export the excess.
The first fuel cargo out of Nigeria was reported in June, with the destination said to be in Asia. Then, earlier this month, the Dangote facility had to suspend gasoline production because of a problem with its catalytic cracking unit.
Meanwhile, Nigerian media reported the refinery had exported a total of .1 billion liters of gasoline in the three months from June and the first week of September, hitting a major export milestone.
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
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