According to data from ship-tracking service Kpler, six vessels carrying approximately 1.7 million barrels of jet fuel from the Dangote refinery arrived at U.S. ports this month.
The data revealed that another vessel, the Hafnia Andromeda, is expected to dock at the Everglades terminal on March 29, carrying about 348,000 barrels of jet fuel.
U.S. jet fuel imports are poised to reach a two-year high in March due to the Dangote refinery’s shipments to North America. As of March, total U.S. jet fuel imports stood at around 226,000 barrels per day, the highest since February 2023.
This comes amid ongoing controversies surrounding the availability and sale of crude oil to the refinery, as well as the supply of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) or petrol to Nigeria’s market.
Recent reports indicated that the Federal Government had cancelled the naira-for-crude deal with the Dangote refinery, leading to panic among marketers and consumers. Additionally, the refinery suspended its sale of petrol in naira to marketers, citing a mismatch between sales proceeds and crude oil purchase obligations, which are denominated in U.S. dollars.
The refinery announced, “Dear valued customers, we wish to inform you that the Dangote Petroleum Refinery has temporarily halted the sale of petroleum products in naira. This decision is necessary to avoid a mismatch between our sales proceeds and our crude oil purchase obligations, which are currently denominated in U.S. dollars.”
As a result of this announcement, the cost of loading petrol at private depots in Lagos surged to about N900 per liter, up from N850 per liter previously.
The Dangote refinery began production in January after years of construction delays, reaching about 85% of its capacity by early February, enabling it to increase fuel exports to international markets.
While Dangote is not expected to become a regular jet fuel supplier to the U.S., a temporary shutdown of the Phillips 66 Bayway refinery in New Jersey created a rare opportunity for jet fuel exports from Nigeria to the U.S., according to Sparta Commodities analyst James Noel-Beswick.
The opportunity is likely to be short-lived, however, as U.S. jet fuel inventories are currently elevated. Additionally, demand to lease jet fuel storage tanks in Houston and New York Harbor for April has surged, averaging around 700,000 barrels—five to six times the average monthly demand, according to TankTiger’s COO Steven Barsamian.
This influx of Nigerian jet fuel is expected to lower jet fuel prices in the U.S. ahead of the peak summer travel season. U.S. jet fuel stocks ended February at 45.2 million barrels, the highest level for the month since 1999, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). The EIA also noted that U.S. refiners set a record for jet fuel yield last year, driven by strong demand. The agency forecasts that U.S. jet fuel consumption will reach a record high in 2026.
