Nigeria has set the sulphur content limit on refined oil products to 200ppm, effective from 1 March, according to a letter from the country's downstream regulatory body NMDPRA seen by Argus.
Oil products containing sulphur levels above 200ppm are no longer permitted to discharge in Nigeria, the NMDPRA said. The sulphur limit for all oil products will be gradually reduced to 50ppm, although a timeframe has not been given.
The regulator did not list penalties for non-compliance with the new sulphur cap but said market participants should be "mindful of the excess sulphur content in products going forward".
Some oil products recently imported to Nigeria contained up to 1,200ppm of sulphur, the NMDPRA said. The old sulphur cap in Nigeria was 1,000ppm for gasoline and 3,000ppm for diesel, according to one source.
Nigeria's new 650,000 b/d Dangote refinery is configured to produce Euro V specification oil products, which should mean its road fuels contain no more than 10ppm sulphur. But market participants say the refinery has yet to start up its secondary units, including desulphurisation units.
The Dangote refinery has offered at least one 60,000t cargo of 700ppm sulphur gasoil for loading on a Long Range 1 (LR1) vessel and has sold 20,000t of gasoil to a local downstream marketer, according to market participants.
The Netherlands, one of Europe's top gasoline suppliers to west Africa, tightened its rules on the quality of road fuel exports in April last year. It requires road fuels produced for export to low- and middle-income countries to adhere to a limit of 50ppm sulphur. Belgium is due to follow suit.
