Nigeria's 650,000 b/d Dangote refinery has restarted its residual fluid catalytic cracker (RFCC) after maintenance, and the unit is now running at about 90pc of capacity, according to a source with knowledge of the matter.
The RFCC has a capacity of roughly 218,000 b/d and is the refinery's main gasoline-producing unit. It appears to have come back online after scheduled test runs in mid-February. The unit had been offline since December, chief executive David Bird said last month.
The refinery's naphtha hydrotreater, isomerisation unit and catalytic reformer — which Dangote refers to as the "motor spirit block" — were running in early February but had not yet reached full capacity following January maintenance, an industry source told Argus in mid-February.
Dangote was listed in fixtures as having booked what freight brokers described as a 37,000t gasoline cargo loading from the French port of Lavera on 10-12 March for delivery to the US, west Africa or southern Africa. But the cargo is actually carrying naphtha and "catgas" for Dangote, the source said. Catgas — also known as FCC gasoline or cracked naphtha — is an RFCC product that often requires further blending to meet gasoline specifications.
Dangote has, meanwhile, raised gasoline asking prices since mid-February, according to local fuel brokers. Flat prices were given at 875 naira/litre on Monday, up by 14pc from around N750/l on 17 February. Benchmark non-oxy gasoline values rose by 12pc over the same period to $728.75/t.
Despite the price rise and the near-complete return of RFCC capacity, three European gasoline cargoes have recently loaded for west Africa, according to one European gasoline analyst.
Trading firm Vitol booked a 37,000t gasoline cargo on Monday loading fob Lavera for west Africa, according to a fixtures report seen by Argus, suggesting arbitrage economics remain attractive despite firmer Medium Range (MR) tanker rates. UK Continent–west Africa MR rates rose to $52.86/t (WS275) on 3 March from $39.40/t (WS205) just before the US-Iran conflict began, which raised concerns over prolonged delays to diesel and jet fuel shipments through the strait of Hormuz and shifted buyers' attention to US Gulf diesel supplies — Europe's main alternative.
