The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has confirmed that Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals Company’s production, especially its supply of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol), is positively impacting the PMS market in Europe.
A report by the oil cartel on Wednesday indicated that the coming on stream of the 650,000-capacity Dangote refinery plant had largely reduced Nigeria’s importation of petroleum products from Europe and other parts of the global oil markets.
Since it started crude oil refining last year, the refinery has, apart from partly supplying refined products to local marketers, also been exporting petrol, diesel, and aviation fuel to other countries in the West African sub-region and other markets.
The OPEC stated in the report: “The ongoing operational ramp-up efforts at Nigeria’s new Dangote refinery and its gasoline (petrol) exports to the international market will likely weigh further on the European gasoline market.
“Continued gasoline production in Nigeria, a country that has relied heavily on imports to meet its domestic fuel needs in the past, will most likely continue to free up gasoline volumes in international markets which will call for new destinations and flow adjustments for the extra volumes going forward”, it added.
According to the oil cartel, in the last quarter of 2024, importation also declined, particularly oil product imports, improving the outlook for the external sector, while the gasoline crack spread in Rotterdam against Brent marginally rose on healthy exports although gasoline inventories at the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp storage hub remained high.
The report further reflected that the gasoline inventory builds were expected to extend into the coming month amid a lengthening gasoline balance in the Atlantic Basin largely based on winter-season demand-side pressures.
Also, OPEC projected that the current recovery in gasoline refinery output levels would likely worsen the already bearish market sentiment.
In a related data in its Monthly Oil Market Report, the OPEC relying on secondary sources figures reported that Nigeria’s average daily crude production increased to 1.507 million barrels in December, representing 12,000bpd increase from the 1.477mbpd produced in November.
However, Nigeria’s official data from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) showed that the country’s crude oil output slightly increased to 1.485mbpd in December.