Dangote in Africa’s First Exports Jet Fuel to Saudi Aramco
The giant Dangote refinery in Lagos has exported two cargoes of jet fuel to Saudi Aramco in what some analysts say truly establishes the plant as a global leader in the business.
Aliko Dangote, President of the Dangote group told directors of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group, NESG during an extensive tour of the plant on Tuesday that the refinery was continuing to make great strides.
According to him, “We are already attaining even the ambitious heights we set for ourselves, and we are delighted to let you know that we have just sold two cargoes of jet fuel to Saudi Aramco.”
Saudi Aramco is the world’s biggest energy company and its recourse to Dangote refinery leaves no one in doubt as to the quality and size of Dangote refinery, one analyst said.
Last year, S&P Global reported that British Petroleum BP had bought its first jet fuel cargo from Dangote refinery and sources confirmed days later that the shipment on the vessel Doric Breeze marked the inaugural BP cargo of about 45,000 mt.
S&P Global said, ‘The European shipment demonstrates the growing reach of products from the 650,00- barrels a day Dangote refinery as it has rapidly ramped up operations and aims to shake up established West African trade flows.
Early last year Dangote refinery which was built for about $20bn, issued tenders for the first export of cargoes from the refinery.
The first cargo was 65,000 metric tons of low-sulphur straight-run fuel oil, which Dangote has awarded to Trafigura. The second tender was for about 60,000 metric tons of naptha.
Singapore, Asia’s oil hub, followed when it received its first low-sulphur straight-run fuel oil cargo exported from Nigeria’s new Dangote refinery, according to ship-tracking data and market sources. It marked a new trade flow from the newly commissioned refinery to Asia, a region that is structurally short on low-sulphur fuel oil required to meet the demand for ship refueling at the world’s largest bunker hub Singapore.
The Dangote refinery, which started production in January last year, can refine up to 650,000 barrels per day of products.
