By Prejula Prem (Bloomberg) Nigeria’s Dangote refinery, larger than any other in Africa or Europe, has shipped its first seaborne gasoline cargo as a vital fuel-producing unit continues to ramp up.
The Sabaek sailed with about 500,000 barrels of gasoline from Dangote to the nearby commercial hub of Lagos in recent days, according to a port report and ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg.
Meanwhile, the refinery’s residue fluid catalytic cracker, a crucial unit in the production of the fuel, is continuing to ramp up output, according to a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named discussing private information.
Once fully operational, the 650,000-barrel-a-day plant will transform the regional gasoline market, potentially reducing the need for imports of the fuel from Europe to West Africa. It has already shaken up crude oil flows by trimming an overhang of Nigerian supply.
This first shipment via sea comes about one month after the new refinery began using trucks to transport gasoline.
A refinery’s RFCC unit helps upgrade petroleum products into more valuable fuels like gasoline.