Dangote Refinery Begins Exporting Fuel, Signaling Regional Market Disruption

The exporting of refined petroleum products by Dangote Refinery to neighboring West African countries can soon affect regional fuel markets, a new report has revealed.

A tanker recently shipped gasoline from the Dangote Refinery to waters off the coast of Togo, loaded with over 300,000 barrels of gasoline from Dangote and sailed west, Bloomberg reported. The Togo location is commonly used for Ship-to-Ship transfers, so the fuel could be transported to other places.

Although the shipment was small compared to the global gasoline market, it signaled an increase in Dangote's production and the possibility of exporting large amounts of gasoline outside Nigeria, which could disrupt regional markets, as per the data from Vortexa, Kpler, Precise Intelligence -- a port report and a ship-tracking platform.

Last month, the chairman of the Ghana National Petroleum Authority Mustapha Abdul-Hamid mentioned that Ghana was considering purchasing petroleum products from the Dangote refinery. This move aimed to help the country reduce its expensive imports from Europe, which currently cost about $400 million a month.

Hamid explained that if the refinery's daily capacity reached 650,000 barrels per day, Nigeria alone won't be able to consume all of that oil. As a result, instead of importing oil from Rotterdam, as they do now, it would be much easier to import it from Nigeria, which, according to Hamid, would help lower prices.

A source revealed the refinery, with a 650,000-barrel-per-day capacity, was also in initial talks with four other African countries -- Niger Republic, Chad, Burkina Faso, and the Central African Republic -- to begin importing fuel.

The source added that talks were progressing in a positive direction with Ghana, Angola, Namibia, and South Africa.

Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) revealed last week that it has stopped importing refined petroleum products and was now sourcing fuel from the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and other local refineries.

Group CEO of the NNPC Mele Kyari, explained that the company was a part-owner of the Dangote Refinery, emphasizing that this was a strategic effort to strengthen the country's domestic fuel supply.