Dangote Refinery has purchased its first cargo of Equatorial Guinea’s Ceiba crude, a 950,000-barrel shipment loading on April 12-13 from BP.
While Ceiba exports mainly go to China, this purchase aligns with Dangote’s strategy to diversify crude sources. Last month, the refinery also secured Algeria’s Saharan Blend crude from Glencore for March delivery.
Dangote has secured competitively priced crude from Equatorial Guinea as Nigerian grades face weak European demand due to abundant cheaper alternatives like CPC Blend, US WTI, and Mediterranean crudes.With European refinery maintenance in April further dampening demand, NNPCL is negotiating a local currency crude sales deal with Dangote, where crude is priced in dollars but paid in naira at a discounted rate.
Potential changes to this deal may push Dangote to import more foreign crude. The refinery plans to source at least 50% of its crude from imports and is constructing eight storage tanks to support this.
