A Greek tanker has been stuck off Nigeria for a month due to payment issues involving the country’s huge new Dangote refinery.
Shipping data from LSEG and Kpler showed the 300,000-dwt Maran Mira (built 2020) has been off the coast since 28 March with a crude cargo shipped by Chinese state energy company PetroChina.
The vessel left the US with the oil on 5 March. It is reported to be racking up demurrage charges of $65,000 per day.
Trading sources told Reuters the completion of the sale of the 2m-barrel West Texas Intermediate (WTI) cargo has been delayed because the refinery has not issued a letter of credit.
PetroChina also refused to receive oil products as payment.
Angelicoussis Group’s Maran Tankers said it does not comment on operational matters.
PetroChina is shipping another 2m barrels of WTI crude to Dangote on the 298,000-dwt VLCC Kondor (built 2012), owned by Oak Maritime.
Dangote is reportedly asking for credit terms of 60 to 90 days, rather than the customary 30.
PetroChina has not commented.
Dangote executive’s stance on credit
Dangote group executive Edwin Devakumar told Reuters that seeking favourable sale prices and credit terms was normal business practice.
“If someone gives me one-year credit, I’ll grab it and if not, I’ll negotiate the best possible deal,” he said. “When you go to a shop to buy something … you’ll try the best possible deal and I do the same.
“We are not delayed. If someone’s business is delayed, he is not giving us a good deal,” Devakumar added.
Traders said imports are now running at 10 crude cargoes per month, about half the target capacity of 650,000 barrels per day this year or next.
Trafigura, Mercuria, Vitol, Shell and Nigerian National Petroleum Corp were among the suppliers in March.
The $20bn plant brought in its first overseas crude cargo in February.
In March, the refinery went out into the tanker term market in a bid to secure crude supplies.
Bloomberg reported that the facility owned by tycoon Aliko Dangote tendered to charter a vessel for three months, with three months of options after that, according to a company document.
