The Dangote Refinery has achieved a major milestone by exporting its first gasoline cargo to the United States, signaling Nigeria’s growing footprint in the global petroleum market. According to reports by Argus, a vessel named Gemini Pearl loaded approximately 300,000 barrels of gasoline at the refinery’s port on August 26, with a likely discharge in New York or New Jersey. While the company has not officially confirmed the development, industry observers noted that leading trading firm Vitol may have chartered the vessel.
This shipment marks the first-ever Nigerian gasoline export to the U.S., though the refinery has already made significant inroads eastward. In June and July, Dangote Refinery exported three LR2 cargoes—two to the Middle East Gulf and one to Singapore. Traders explained that the latest U.S.-bound cargo was influenced by arbitrage opportunities, as gasoline prices in the U.S. Atlantic Coast have surged amid tightening inventories.
Despite the milestone, operational challenges persist at the refinery. Market sources disclosed that the Residue Fluid Catalytic Cracking (RFCC) unit, which was shut down in August for up to two weeks, has since restarted but continues to face feedstock issues, including high metals content. The refinery is also still exporting low-sulphur straight-run fuel oil, indicating that the RFCC is functioning at around 45–50 percent capacity.
Meanwhile, billionaire industrialist Aliko Dangote, speaking in a resurfaced Bloomberg interview, emphasized that his vast business empire was built without inherited wealth. He recounted that while his late great-grandfather and grandfather were among West Africa’s richest men, he deliberately chose not to retain any family assets. “One thing I am very proud of is that I did not inherit any money from my father. I built everything from scratch to where I am,” Dangote stated, adding that any inherited assets were given to charity.
Reflecting on his early entrepreneurial journey, Dangote recalled starting out in Lagos trading cement—a business he described as “low-key” but vital for national infrastructure. Today, his refinery stands as one of Africa’s most ambitious industrial projects, with the latest U.S. shipment underscoring both its global potential and the ongoing challenges of scaling operations to full capacity.
