Nigerian Dangote refinery seeks more US WTI crude

Nigeria's 650,000 b/d Dangote refinery has issued a tender seeking US crude WTI for delivery in August and September.

The company is requesting 1mn bl or 2mn bl cargoes of the light sweet grade to be delivered on 1-10, 11-20 and 21-31 August, as well as 1-10 September. The tender closes on 4 July.

It is Dangote's second WTI tender. The first sought 2mn bl/month over a 12-month period starting in July. Some traders said the initial tender was not awarded, but this has not been confirmed.

The Dangote refinery started up at the end of 2023 and received its first crude cargo on 6 December. It aims to reach throughput of around 350,000 b/d in its first phase of operations. Argus tracking indicate it is almost at that level, having received close to 350,000 b/d in June, of which 140,000 b/d was WTI.

Vortexa data show crude deliveries to the refinery have averaged just over 200,000 b/d so far this year, with WTI accounting for 27pc of the total.

Dangote had expected to run mainly on Nigerian crude. But WTI is often more competitively priced despite additional costs to ship the grade. WTI was on average 35¢/bl cheaper on a delivered-Europe basis than Nigeria's flagship Qua Iboe on a fob basis during May-June.

By Lina Bulyk