Nigeria’s petrol imports have dropped significantly in early October as the Dangote Refinery boosts its production to meet local demand. This information comes from an S&P Global Commodity Insights ship-tracking report released on Tuesday.
The report shows a dramatic decrease in petrol imports. In the first week of October, only 280,400 barrels of gasoline and blend stock entered Nigeria through a single Medium-Range vessel, a sharp contrast to August’s weekly average of 1.3 million barrels.
The trend continued into the second week of October. Only one tanker, carrying 290,567 barrels from Antwerp to Lagos, was reported. These two shipments pale compared to the 12 cargoes sent in the first half of August and September.
Since October 8, no new gasoline shipments have arrived in Nigeria. This marks a significant disruption to the established fuel flow from Northwest Europe to West Africa, largely due to the Dangote Refinery’s increasing domestic production.
A trade source commented: “There is no schedule for gasoline coming from Europe to Nigeria at the moment. The rest will have to come from whatever is in the Offshore Lome market.” They speculated that the new refinery might only meet up to a quarter of domestic demand.
Despite this shift towards domestic production, the report cautions that Nigeria could still face a substantial fuel shortage without imported supply. Traders have expressed concerns about this potential deficit.
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