June 18 (Reuters) – A 90,000 metric ton cargo of gasoline from Nigeria’s Dangote refinery will be sold out of the region for the first time and bound for Asia, a source familiar with the matter.

Since the 650,000 barrel-per-day refinery started gasoline exports last year, the cargoes have stayed in west Africa.

Mercuria is due to load the cargo on June 22, the source close to the deal said, speaking on condition on anonymity.

A spokesperson for Mercuria did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

“We sell our products to those who are willing to give us the highest price. It’s the buyer’s right to take the products to any destination of their choice,” a spokesperson for the Dangote refinery said.

Some analysts see this new trade route as the company’s readiness to supply motor fuel globally.

“This development shows the Dangote refinery’s growing global importance as a gasoline supplier, and the company’s confidence that production is now stable enough to meet Nigeria’s domestic needs,” said a director at political risk consultancy Horizon Engage Clementine Wallop.

(Reporting by Julia Payne in Brussels, Isaac Anyaogu in Lagos, Robert Harvey in London; editing by Barbara Lewis and David Evans)