President Bola Tinubu has directed the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited to sell crude to the Dangote refinery and other upcoming refineries in Nigeria’s currency, Naira.
Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Publicity disclosed this information through a post on his X handle. He noted that this was adopted to ensure the stability of the pump price of refined fuel and the dollar-naira exchange rate.
He also revealed that the Federal Executive Council approved that the 450,000 barrels meant for domestic consumption be offered in naira to Nigerian refineries, using the Dangote refinery as a pilot.
In his statement on X, titled, “President Tinubu offers a lifeline to Dangote refinery, NNPC to sell crude to it in naira, the presidential media aide said, “To ensure the stability of the pump price of refined fuel and the dollar-naira exchange rate, the Federal Executive Council today adopted a proposal by President Tinubu to sell crude to Dangote refinery and other upcoming refineries in naira.
“Dangote refinery at the moment requires 15 cargoes of crude at $13.5bn yearly. NNPC has committed to supply four. But the FEC has approved that the 450,000 barrels meant for domestic consumption be offered in naira to Nigerian refineries, using the Dangote refinery as a pilot. The exchange rate will be fixed for the duration of this transaction.
“Afreximbank and other settlement banks in Nigeria will facilitate the trade between Dangote and NNPC Limited. The game-changing intervention will eliminate the need for international letters of credit. It will also save the country billions of dollars used in importing refined fuel.”
In reference to this, oil marketers, refiners, and experts revealed that this significant move of the Presidency will forcefully crash the prices of domestically refined petroleum products.
Operators in the downstream oil sector have also applauded the president for this move, highlighting that it would facilitate the outputs of domestic refineries, shore up the country’s foreign exchange reserves, and also strengthen the Nigerian currency.
