By Ayorinde Oluokun/Abuja
In a move that is bound to shock marketers, Dangote Petroleum Refinery on Wednesday announced a temporary suspension of sale petroleum products in naira, the Nigerian currency. The company announced in a statement published on its social media handles that it will begin sale of petroleum products to marketers in dollars.
Dangote Refinery hinged its decision to begin the sale of petroleum products to marketers in dollars on the need to align with the currency with which it is buying most of its crude supplies outside the country.
The statement by the company read: “We wish to inform you that, Dangote Petroleum Refinery has temporarily halted the sale of petroleum products in Naira. This decision is necessary to avoid a mismatch between our sales proceeds and our crude oil purchase obligations, which are currently denominated in U.S. dollars.
“To date, our sales of petroleum products in Naira have exceeded the value of Naira-denominated crude we have received. As a result, we must temporarily adjust our sales currency to align with our crude procurement currency.”
The company also denied claim that it stopped loading of petroleum products from its refinery because of technical fault.
Rather, the company said it stopped loading because of fraud it discovered in its ticketing system.
“Our attention has also been drawn to reports on the internet claiming that we are stopping loading due to an incident of ticketing fraud. This is malicious falsehood. Our systems are robust and we have had no fraud issues.
“We remain committed to serving,” Dangote Refinery said. NNPC clarifies Naira crude contract with Dangote Refinery
Crude
Crude for Naira Controversy
Recall that a recent report had indicated that the The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) has stopped the sale of crude oil to Dangote Refinery in naira.
However, while denying the claim, the NNPC said the sale of crude oil to Dangote Refinery in naira was structured as a six-month agreement.
The Chief Corporate Communications Officer, NNPC Ltd., Olufemi Soneye, in the statement said this was subject to availability, and expires at ending of March 2025.
He said discussions were ongoing towards emplacing a new contract.
The spokesperson explained that the clarification became necessary because of the recent reports on social media regarding the alleged unilateral termination of the crude oil sales agreement in Naira between NNPC and Dangote Refinery.
“Under this arrangement, NNPC has made over 48 million barrels of crude oil available to Dangote Refinery since October 2024.
“In aggregate, the NNPC has made over 84 million barrels of crude oil available to the Refinery since its commencement of operations in 2023.
“NNPC Limited remains committed to supplying crude oil for local refining based on mutually agreed terms and conditions,” he said.
