Dangote refinery will start exporting diesel conforming to European specifications along with gasoline (petrol) in June, its Vice President for Oil and Gas, Devakumar Edwin, said at the weekend.
According to him, “We expect before the end of next month we’ll also have gasoline in the market, and we’ll also have Euro V diesel for export, that is below 10ppm”, Argus Media, quoted Edwin to have said at a Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) event in Lagos.
Dangote started naphtha exports in March, low-sulphur straight-run fuel oil (LSSR) exports in May and began selling diesel and jet fuel domestically in April.
It has a waiver from NMDPRA to sell diesel with sulphur levels above 600ppm into the local market, Argus said. At full capacity Dangote will be able to exceed Nigerian domestic gasoline demand. But a trader in the region said gasoline production is unlikely to start next month, citing the amount of cargoes to be delivered to the country. Exports of naphtha, a key blending component in finished-grade gasoline, are continuing from the refinery, with 80,000t due to load on May 31, according to Kpler.
