Dangote Betrays FG's Policy On Petrol Sales, Diverts To Foreign Markets, Sells In Dollars

BY BONIFACE Okeke

The Dangote Refinery has altered the federal government's petrol supply plan as it began the sale of fuel in dollars to the foreign market as a vessel (tanker/cargo) already hauled the product from the refinery to waters off Togo.

Investigation reveals that the oil company has already signed a contract with Vitoil for 5 cargoes of 38,000 metric tonnes per cargo. One of them is the CL Jane Austen tracked by bloomberg.

The crude oil from which the product was refined was sold to the refinery established by Africa's richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote in Naira through a government's template that began in October.

The private refinery, a report by Bloomberg showed, has signed a contract with Vitoil for 5 cargoes of 38,000 metric tonnes per cargo.

Investigation by Bloomberg showed that the tanker named The CL Jane Austen recently loaded more than 300,000 barrels from Dangote. The tanker sailed west, according to data from Vortexa, Kpler, Precise Intelligence, a port report, and ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg.

"It’s now floating off the
coast of Lome, a popular area for ship-to-ship transfers," the report added.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu ordered the sale of crude oil to Dangote Refinery in Naira, an order that has been confirmed to have been implemented by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).

Meanwhile, the new fuel supply deal between Dangote Refinery, which benefited from the crude oil sale in Naira, and Vitol is being carried out in dollar.

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 fuel cargo to the
nearby commercial hub of Lagos.

Whether large amounts of Dangote’s fuel output end up being exported remains to be seen.

A Dangote spokesperson didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Last month, Nigeria ended its state-owned oil company’s monopoly on buying the fuel from the
plant for domestic use.

Meanwhile, the country continues to import fuel from Europe and the US.

It’s also not certain where the CL Jane Austen’s cargo will ultimately end up.

Although it’s off Togo, the area is often used for STS transfers, meaning the fuel could subsequently be
taken elsewhere.

Any reaction that takes too long before response will be subjected to scrutiny.