Nigeria’s mega refinery seeks oil tanker as market tightens

Nigeria’s new mega refinery is taking steps to secure crude imports in the latest sign that the physical oil market is tightening.

Dangote Industries Ltd., owned by billionaire Aliko Dangote, is looking to hire an oil tanker on a three-month contract to bring West African supplies to the refinery, according to a document seen by Bloomberg. The contract, for service starting in mid-March, could be renewed for another three months. 

The move suggests that the recently opened refinery — the largest in Africa — is ramping up operations more quickly than expected. That would tighten a market that’s been teetering into oversupply, and support futures prices that rallied Friday to the highest level since November. 

The refinery, able to process 650,000 barrel a day of oil, started operations in January. It has tapped US and West African grades to produce fuels in the initial start-up phase, during which it aims to run at 350,000 barrels a day.