Africa’s largest oil refinery has exported its first shipments of gasoline into the United States, marking a new chapter for the country as a major fuel exporter.
The first two shipments from the Dangote Refinery were sold separately to Texas energy company Sunoco, and the oil and gas giant Shell, Reuters reported. The exports mark the expansion of the refinery’s operation beyond just the local supply of refined products in Nigeria.
The 650,000 barrels-a-day facility began operating last year and has become influential in determining the availability and pricing of gasoline in the continent’s most populous nation.
Nigeria, Africa’s top crude oil producer, has for decades imported fuel due to its lack of local refining capacity. Its efforts to build up refining capacity mirror those by other African nations across various commodities — from iron ore processing to gold refining — where governments have sought to add value locally before exporting goods.