Two top global oil traders, Vitol and North American fuel distributor Sunoco, have received the first U.S. petrol import from Dangote refinery.
Reuters reported that the delivery was made on Monday, according to vessel-tracking data and two sources familiar with the matter.
The delivery of the tanker Gemini Pearl marks a major milestone for the 650,000-barrel-per-day Dangote refinery. Energy market participants had been waiting to see when its production would start meeting strict U.S. motor fuels standards.
According to one source and ship-tracking data, Vitol purchased the Gemini Pearl’s cargo of around 320,000 barrels of gasoline from Geneva, Switzerland-based Mocoh Oil and sold most of it to Sunoco. It was not immediately clear what volume Vitol sold to Sunoco and how much it would keep.
The vessel was discharged at Sunoco’s Linden facility in the New York Harbor area, vessel-tracking data showed.
The sources requested anonymity to discuss confidential details. Vitol and Sunoco did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Mocoh Oil, which confirmed a partnership with Dangote to export products from the refinery earlier this year, did not immediately comment outside of business hours in Switzerland.
After a string of startup delays, the Dangote refinery, one of the world’s biggest, has reshaped global energy flows by ramping up output sharply since last year. It is expected to significantly reduce Nigeria’s fuel imports, while exporting its surplus mainly to Europe.
A second cargo of gasoline from Dangote to the U.S. was sold by Glencore to Shell on the vessel MH Daisen, which is set to arrive in the New York Harbor area around September 19, one of the sources said and ship-tracking data showed.
Glencore declined to comment, and Shell did not immediately respond.
Vitol also purchased from Mocoh a third cargo of gasoline made by the Dangote refinery, with the vessel Seaexplorer set to deliver that in the New York Harbor area around September 22, the sources said.
The sources said the destination of the undelivered cargoes could change based on market conditions.
While the cargoes support expectations that the Dangote refinery is set to sharply alter global energy trade, they are likely to be the only ones for a while. Industry monitor IIR Energy said earlier this month that the refinery’s gasoline-producing unit could be shut for two to three months for repairs.
Dangote did not respond to Reuters’ earlier requests for comment on the outage.
