Dangote Refinery will halt the loading of petroleum products for the Nigerian market due to insufficient progress in renegotiating the naira-for-crude deal, TheCable reports.
Nevertheless, sources indicate that the refinery will continue to load for export, as it currently procures all its crude stock from the international market in dollars.
The refinery sells to Nigerian marketers in naira because it purchases crude in the local currency through its arrangement with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Ltd.
On March 10, the NNPC has discontinued the naira-for-crude arrangement with Dangote Refinery and other domestic refineries.
However, shortly after this announcement, Olufemi Soneye, the chief corporate communications officer of NNPC, clarified that the current deal, which commenced in October 2024, will expire at the end of March.
Soneye added that negotiations are underway for a new naira-for-crude deal with Dangote Petroleum Refinery.
The spokesperson also stated that NNPC has supplied over 48 million barrels of crude oil to Dangote Refinery since October 2024, and in total, the government-owned oil company has provided more than 84 million barrels of crude oil to the refinery since it began operations in 2023.
Local refineries and the federal government had agreed to transact crude oil and refined petroleum products in naira to enhance supply, save the country millions of dollars in oil imports, and ultimately reduce pump prices.
