IT’S OFFICIAL: Dangote halts sale of petroleum products in naira

The Dangote Petroleum Refinery says it has temporarily halted the sale of petroleum products in naira.

The refinery announced the decision in a statement on Wednesday.

The development comes a few hours after TheCable reported that the refinery would stop loading petroleum products for the Nigerian market as the renegotiation of the naira-for-crude deal is not recording significant progress.

Sources had told the publication the refinery would continue to load for export as it currently sources all its crude stock from the international market in dollars.

In the statement, the refinery said the decision to halt sales in naira was “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,” the statement reads.

“As a result, we must temporarily adjust our sales currency to align with our crude procurement currency.”

The refinery also debunked claims that the temporary suspension was due to ticketing frauds, saying they are “malicious”.

The firm, however, assured that sales would resume in naira as soon as they receive crude supply in naira from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited.

“Our attention has also been drawn to reports on the internet claiming that we are stopping loading due to an incident of ticketing fraud,” Dangote refinery said.

“This is a malicious falsehood. Our systems are robust and we have had no fraud issues.

“We remain committed to serving the Nigerian market efficiently and sustainably.

“As soon as we receive an allocation of Naira-denominated crude cargoes from NNPC, we will promptly resume petroleum product sales in Naira.”

On March 10, TheCable reported that the NNPC had suspended the naira-for-crude deal until 2030, as the government-owned company has forward-sold all its crude oil.

However, following the report, the NNPC said negotiations are ongoing for a new naira-for-crude deal with the refinery, as the current agreement will expire at the end of March.

Zaach Adedeji, chairman of the naira-for-crude policy technical sub-committee, reassured that the naira-based crude oil supply arrangement with local refineries has not been discontinued.

Nigeria officially commenced the sale of crude oil and refined petroleum products in naira on October 1, 2024, after the federal executive council (FEC) approved a proposal by President Bola Tinubu directing the NNPC to sell crude oil to Dangote refinery and other refineries in the local currency.

However, in November last year, the refinery said the crude-for-naira initiative was faltering, as it was still unable to secure adequate supplies.