Shell has purchased a cargo of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) produced by the Dangote Petroleum Refinery in a development that underscores the refinery’s growing footprint in international fuel markets.
The deal comes as a third shipment of Nigerian-made gasoline is already on course to the United States, further signalling the Lagos-based facility’s ability to meet some of the most stringent fuel standards in the world.
Reuters reported that global oil trader, Vitol, working with North American fuel distributor, Sunoco, took delivery of the first U.S. import of gasoline from the refinery yesterday.
The product, transported aboard the tanker Gemini Pearl, represents a breakthrough for the 650,000-barrel-per-day plant, which had faced scrutiny over its capacity to meet U.S. motor fuel specifications.
According to the report, Vitol purchased about 320,000 barrels of gasoline from Mocoh Oil, a Swiss-based trading firm that has been collaborating with Dangote on export deals.
Most of the consignment was later resold to Sunoco and discharged at its Linden facility in the New York Harbor area. A second shipment handled by global commodities firm Glencore was said to have been sold to Shell and is currently being conveyed on the vessel MH Daisen, expected to berth in New York Harbor around September 19.
