In a significant development for the global oil market, two leading oil traders, Vitol and North American fuel distributor Sunoco, have successfully taken delivery of the first U.S. import of gasoline from the Dangote refinery. The delivery occurred on Monday, as confirmed by vessel-tracking data and sources familiar with the transaction, according to a report by Reuters.
The gasoline was transported on the tanker Gemini Pearl, marking a major milestone for the Dangote refinery, which has a production capacity of 650,000 barrels per day. Energy market participants have been closely monitoring the refinery’s progress to see when it would begin meeting the stringent U.S. motor fuels standards.
Vitol acquired the cargo of approximately 320,000 barrels of gasoline from Mocoh Oil, based in Geneva, Switzerland, and subsequently sold most of it to Sunoco. The exact volume sold to Sunoco remains unclear, as does how much Vitol will retain. The tanker discharged its cargo at Sunoco’s facility in the New York Harbor area, as indicated by vessel-tracking data.
Sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the confidential nature of the details noted that both Vitol and Sunoco had not responded to requests for comment at the time of reporting.
Mocoh Oil, which confirmed a partnership with Dangote earlier this year to export products from the refinery, also did not provide comments outside of business hours in Switzerland.
After experiencing several startup delays, the Dangote refinery, one of the largest in the world, has begun to reshape global energy flows by significantly increasing its output since last year. It is expected to drastically cut Nigeria’s fuel imports while exporting its surplus primarily to Europe.
In addition to the Gemini Pearl delivery, a second gasoline cargo from Dangote is set to be delivered to the U.S. by Glencore, destined for Shell on the vessel MH Daisen, which is expected to arrive in the New York Harbor area around September 19, according to one source and ship-tracking data.
Glencore declined to comment, and Shell did not respond immediately to inquiries.
Furthermore, Vitol has also purchased a third cargo of gasoline from Mocoh, with the vessel Seaexplorer scheduled to deliver it to the New York Harbor area around September 22, according to sources.
While these cargo deliveries support expectations that the Dangote refinery will significantly impact global energy trade, they may be the only shipments for some time. The refinery’s gasoline-producing unit is anticipated to undergo repairs for two to three months, as reported by industry monitor IIR Energy earlier this month. Dangote has not responded to previous requests for comment regarding the outage.
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