Updates throughout
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. One market participant suggested the sulphur cap for gasoline may be lowered to 150ppm in the short to medium term.
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 a source.
The regulator did not list penalties for non-compliance but said market participants should be "mindful of the excess sulphur content in products going forward".
Enforcement of the new cap will begin at the port of origin through the online documentation process that importers have to complete, a source at the NMDPRA told Argus. Only cargoes with approved third-party certification of sulphur content below the specified limit will be approved to sail for Nigeria. A second set of tests will be conducted on cargoes when they arrive in Nigeria and only those that meet the specifications will be allowed to discharge, the NMDPRA source said. A cargo of 2,000ppm diesel has already been prevented from discharging, according to one market participant.
The new sulphur limit will not hamper Nigeria's new 650,000 b/d Dangote refinery in the long run as it is configured to produce Euro V specification oil products, which should mean its road fuels contain no more than 10ppm sulphur. But according to market participants, the refinery has yet to start up its secondary units, including desulphurisation units.
Since starting up, the refinery has offered at least one 60,000t cargo of 700ppm sulphur gasoil for loading on a Long Range 1 (LR1) vessel and recently agreed to supply a 20,000t clip of gasoil to a local downstream marketer later this month, according to market participants. The Major Energies Marketers Association of Nigeria told Argus last week that supply of diesel from Dangote to the domestic market is "imminent".
Dangote has applied for a waiver to supply 600ppm diesel to the domestic market, the NMDPRA source said. The waiver was likely to be granted this week but would be for a limited quantity of products, the source added. The Dangote refinery has worked with the NMDPRA over the past month to gain approval for the start of secondary units that will enable it to produce diesel with a sulphur content of about 55ppm, according to a market participant.
The Netherlands, one of Europe's top gasoline suppliers to west Africa, tightened its rules governing 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.
