U.S. Gulf Coast crude exports soared to 4.4 MMb/d for the week ended August 21, with cargos headed solely to Nigeria after a roughly five-month absence (as seen in the red dashed oval in chart below). Two Aframax cargoes loaded during the week for delivery to the Dangote Refinery in Lekki, Nigeria. As discussed in this week's Crude Voyager, the Aframax Marlin Lome departed the Seabrook Terminal in Houston and the Aframax Sti Elysees loaded out of the South Texas Gateway Terminal in Corpus Christi. Exports to Nigeria averaged 200 Mb/d (blue bar at far right of chart) for the week, marking the first U.S.-loaded vessels expected to fully discharge in Africa since March.
The return is notable because Dangote’s pull on U.S. crude fell sharply this spring as the refinery gained better access to domestic Nigerian grades. According to the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Nigeria's crude imports dropped from 9.4 MMbbl in March to just 410 Mbbl in April, with locally sourced barrels supplying most of its feedstock. Dangote also broadened its slate with Middle Eastern crude later in the summer, including its first UAE cargoes, further reducing the need for Atlantic Basin light sweets such as WTI Midland.
The latest cargoes therefore look less like a wholesale return to sustained U.S. buying and more like opportunistic re-entry when USGC barrels price competitively into West Africa. That distinction matters: Nigeria is increasingly able to satisfy its refining system with domestic crude, meaning U.S. exporters may now compete for Dangote demand at the margin rather than serving as a core source of supply. Still, after several months with virtually no U.S.-to-Nigeria flows, two cargoes in the same week suggest the economics have reopened, at least temporarily, creating another outlet for Gulf Coast barrels beyond their currently dominant European market.
