The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has begun the export of refined petroleum products to neighbouring West African countries.
A report by Bloomberg, quoting data sourced from Vortexa, Kpler, Precise Intelligence, a port report, and ship-tracking platform, said a tanker has hauled a shipment of gasoline from the Dangote Petroleum Refinery to waters off the coast of Togo, a neighbouring West African country.
The latest development, the report pointed out, is a sign to traders that the mega-refinery’s operations could soon potentially shake up regional fuel markets.
The report said a CL Jane Austen recently loaded more than 300,000 barrels from Dangote and sailed west.
The report further stated that the petroleum product shipment is now floating off the coast of Lome, a popular area for ship-to-ship transfers.
It’s also not certain where the CL Jane Austen’s cargo will ultimately end up, it said.
Although it’s off Togo, the area is often used for Ship-to-ship transfers, meaning the fuel could subsequently be taken elsewhere.
“While the shipment is tiny in the context of the global gasoline market, it signals the ramp-up of Dangote’s production and the potential to export significant volumes of gasoline beyond Nigeria, which could upend regional markets.”
The refinery last month shipped its first seaborne gasoline cargo to the nearby commercial hub of Lagos.
Whether large amounts of Dangote’s gasoline output end up being exported remains to be seen.
Last month, the Federal Government ended its state-owned oil company’s monopoly on buying the fuel from the plant for domestic use but has allowed the continued importation of fuel from Europe and the US in line with the regulatory act.
According to the report, a Dangote spokesperson didn’t respond to a request for comments.
