Top global oil trader Vitol and North American fuel distributor Sunoco (SUN.N), opens new tab took delivery of the first U.S. import of gasoline from Nigeria’s new Dangote refinery on Monday, according to vessel-tracking data and two sources familiar with the matter.
The delivery, on the tanker Gemini Pearl, marks a major milestone for the 650,000 barrel-per-day Dangote refinery, as energy market participants had been waiting to see when its production would start meeting strict U.S. motor fuels standards
Vitol purchased the Gemini Pearl’s cargo of around 320,000 barrels of gasoline from Geneva, Switzerland-based Mocoh Oil, and sold most of it to Sunoco, according to one source and ship-tracking data. It was not immediately clear what volume Vitol sold to Sunoco and how much it will keep.
The vessel discharged at Sunoco’s Linden facility in the New York Harbor area, vessel-tracking data showed.
The sources requested anonymity to discuss confidential details. Vitol and Sunoco did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Reuters is the first to report the parties involved in these trades.
Mocoh Oil, which earlier this year confirmed a partnership with Dangote to export products from the refinery, did not immediately comment outside of business hours in Switzerland.
While the cargoes back expectations that the Dangote refinery is set to sharply alter global energy trade, they are likely to be the only ones for a while. The refinery’s gasoline-producing unit could be shut for two to three months for repairs, industry monitor IIR Energy said earlier this month.