Nigeria's State oil firm NNPC will supply the new 650 000 bl/d Dangote oil refinery with up to six cargoes of crude oil in December to be used in test runs, three industry sources with knowledge of the matter said.
The refinery, funded by Africa's richest man Aliko Dangote, will transform oil trading in the Atlantic Basin and remove a lucrative outlet for fuels produced in Europe and the United States that have for years powered the cars, trucks and generators on the continent.
The refinery is in the Lekki free trade zone near Lagos. Once it is fully up and running, it will turn oil powerhouse Nigeria into a net exporter of fuels, a long-sought goal for the OPEC member that is currently almost totally reliant on imports.
One of the sources, an NNPC official, who declined to be named, specified six cargoes, or 200 000 bl/d, would be supplied in December as part of a one-year deal, adding that volumes in future months would be supplied "based on mutual agreement and availability".
The other sources said about four or five cargoes, or at least 130 000 bl/d, were planned. A Dangote Group official, who did not wish to be named, said "some of the agreements have confidentiality clauses" without elaborating when asked about the NNPC supply deal.
NNPC has a 20% stake in the refinery.
The refinery began the commissioning process in May this year after running years behind schedule at a cost of $19-billion, above initial estimates of $12-billion to $14-billion.
Commissioning includes testing the different units that make products from gasoline to diesel and making sure they respond to the control panels.