The biggest flow of fuels including gasoline
to West Africa from Europe in at least three years is poised to slow as demand
ebbs after Nigeria’s presidential elections.
Oil traders booked tankers to haul an average of 514,000 metric
tons of fuels a week to West Africa this year, according to lists of ship
charters compiled by Bloomberg. That’s about 70 percent more than a year
earlier and about a quarter of Europe’s exports. Shipments peaked about three
weeks before the March 28 vote.
The surge will slow because it was caused in part by Nigeria’s
government seeking to avoid gasoline shortages before the election, said Ehsan
Ul-Haq, an analyst at KBC Energy Economics in London. Goodluck Jonathan lost
the presidency by more than 2.5 million votes to Muhammadu Buhari. West
Africa’s biggest oil-consumer has subsidized fuel for decades.
“Jonathan’s government wanted to ensure a liquid supply ahead of
elections, which prompted them to import more,” Ul-Haq said by phone Thursday.
“If the new government continues to subsidize gasoline then probably we might
see more imports but probably not at the same level as in the first quarter.”
