NNPC’s fuel import reform scheme reduces U.S. petrol export to Nigeria by 10,000bpd

The United States (U.S.) exports of gasoline to Africa decreased by 28,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2015, compared with 2014 due to lower exports to Nigeria, one of Africa’s largest fuel importers.

The EIA, which made this disclosure in a statement at the weekend, attributed the shortfall in U.S. petrol export to Africa to fuel import programme reforms, which took place in Nigeria recently.

Specifically, the U.S. export of petrol to Nigeria stands at 300,000 barrels in Decembe 2015 representing 10,000 barrels per day (bpd) compared to 631,000 barrel it exported in the same period of 2014.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) had announced the replacement of the Offshore Processing Arrangement (OPA) option in preference for the more efficient direct sale-direct purchase alternative, which allows for the direct sale of crude oil by the corporation as well as direct purchase of petroleum products from credible international refineries.

Total U.S. petroleum product exports continued to increase in 2015, up by 467,000 barrels per day (bpd) from 2014 to 4.3 million bpd, driven by increased exports of distillate fuel, motor gasoline, and propane.

Mexico and countries in Central and South America continue to be major recipients of U.S. petroleum product exports.

According to the U.S Energy Information Administration (EIA), Exports of distillate fuel oil represent the largest component of U.S. petroleum product exports, and averaged 1.19 million bPd in 2015, an increase of 85,000 bpd from 2014.

It added that the United States exported distillate fuel to 88 different countries in 2015. “The top destination for U.S. distillate exports was Mexico, averaging 143,000 bpd in 2015, an increase of 15,000 bpd from the previous year. Distillate exports to Central and South America averaged 595,000 bpd in 2015, up 10,000 bpd from the previous year. Chile was the region’s largest single importer of U.S. distillate in 2015, averaging 101,000 bpd.

“As continued high U.S. refinery runs and a warmer-than-normal heating season combined to push U.S. distillate inventories above the five-year average and combined to push prices lower, exports of distillate to Western Europe also increased. In the third and fourth quarters of 2015, distillate exports to Western Europe increased year-over-year by 80,000 bpd and 136,000 bpd, respectively. Increased U.S. exports contributed to high distillate inventories in the major refining and petroleum hubs of Amsterdam and Rotterdam in the Netherlands, and Antwerp in Belgium, collectively known as the ARA”, it added.

EIA stated that motor gasoline was the second-largest U.S. petroleum product export in 2015, averaging 618,000 bpd and exported to 102 different countries, up 68,000 bpd from 2014.

It noted, as with distillate, Mexico is the largest recipient of U.S. motor gasoline exports, averaging 307,000 bpd in 2015.

It disclosed that U.S. exports of propane nearly matched those of motor gasoline at 615,000 bpd in 2015, up 193,000 bpd from the previous year.

It stated: “Low U.S. propane prices have encouraged the expansion of propane export capacity since 2013. Unlike exports of distillate and motor gasoline, U.S. propane exports are destined mainly for Asia, averaging 220,000 bpd in 2015, an increase of 138,000 bpd over 2014. Asia is expected to be the leading source of global propane consumption growth, with an expanding petrochemical sector as the main driver.

“Some of the imports from the United States in the region encompassing Central and South America in 2015 reflected supply constraints that are likely to be temporary. For example, Ecuadorian demand for U.S. gasoline increased while PetroEcuador’s 110,000 bpd Esmeraldas refinery was closed for most of the year for a major upgrade. Colombian demand for U.S. gasoline and distillate supplies increased after a reduction in supply from neighboring Venezuela and after delays in the opening of Ecopetrol’s new 165,000 bpd refinery in Cartagena. Supplies from the new and upgraded refineries in Ecuador and Colombia, along with Petrobras’s new 230,000 bpd Abreu e Lima refinery in Brazil, have the potential to reduce that country’s need for gasoline and distillate imports from the United States”.