Nigeria's 650,000 b/d Dangote refinery has bought its first cargo of Equatorial Guinea's medium sweet Ceiba crude, according to sources with knowledge of the matter.
Dangote bought the 950,000 bl cargo loading over 12-13 April from BP earlier this week, sources told Argus. Price levels of the deal were kept under wraps.
Most Ceiba exports typically go to China. Around 18,000 b/d discharged there last year, while three shipments went to Spain and one to the Netherlands, according to Vortexa data. This year, two cargoes loading in February and March are signalling Zhanjiang in China, according to tracking data.
Traders note that buying a Ceiba cargo is part of Dangote's efforts to diversify its crude sources. Last month the refinery bought its first cargo of Algeria's light sweet Saharan Blend crude from trading firm Glencore, which is due to be delivered over 15-20 March.
Market sources said Dangote seems to have sourced competitively priced crude from Equatorial Guinea at a time when domestic grades are facing sluggish demand from Nigeria's core European market amid ample supply of cheaper Kazakh-origin light sour CPC Blend, US WTI and Mediterranean sweet crudes. Several European refineries are due to undergo maintenance in April, which is also weighing on demand.
Nigeria's state-owned NNPC is currently in negotiations with the Dangote refinery about extending a local currency crude sales arrangement, which involves crude prices being set in dollars and Dangote paying the naira equivalent at a discounted exchange rate.
Any changes to the terms of the programme may pressure Dangote to increase the amount of foreign crude in its slate. Refinery sources told Argus in January that Dangote will source at least 50pc of its crude needs on the import market and is building eight storage tanks to facilitate this.
