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Dangote Refinery has ramped up its stock of imported crude oil from the United States as a second cargo as a second shipment of US light sweet crude oil was headed to Nigeria on Friday for delivery to the refinery, according to a trader and ship tracking data.
This is coming as indications emerged at the weekend that Nigeria’s efforts to raise crude oil production continued to yield results during the February circle, with output for the month rising by approximately 60,000bpd during the month.
Reuters reported that the vessel, Otis, which loaded about 850,000 barrels of WTI Midland in Houston last week, was signaling Lekki in Nigeria as its destination, according to Kpler and LSEG ship tracking.
It was estimated to reach the country around mid-March.
The vessel was chartered by Vitol, according to data sources and a trader.
The first shipment of two million barrels of US crude on the very large crude carrier, Gem No. 1, also chartered by Vitol, was nearing Nigeria and is expected to discharge next week.
The refinery, Africa’s largest with a nameplate capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, was built on a peninsula on the outskirts of the commercial capital, Lagos, by the continent’s richest man, Aliko Dangote.
The refinery began buying crude in December last year and The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Ltd (NNPCL) has been the main supplier.
The refinery had issued tenders to sell two fuel cargoes for export, a tender document showed and trading sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters earlier this month.
Bloomberg had in January this year reported that Trafigura Group sold two million barrels of WTI Midland to Dangote Refinery for end-February delivery.
This is the first time that the giant refinery has purchased non-Nigerian crude, traders said.
Trafigura is a multinational commodity trading company headquartered in Singapore, with major hubs in various locations, including Geneva, Houston, Montevideo and Mumbai.
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