Dangote Refinery Suspends Sales of Petroleum Products in Naira

This action came after the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited halted its Naira-for-crude oil agreement with the company and other local refiners.

Last month, the state-owned oil agency said it would stop selling crude oil to Dangote Refinery in Naira from the end of this month, claiming its deals was for six months, from October 2024 to March 2025.

This came after the private refinery triggered a price war with the NNPC, crashing the price of premium motor spirit (PMS) to N825 per litre from its depots.

The NNPC operates in the downstream sector of the petroleum industry but the Dangote Refinery only has partners like MRS Oil, Ardova Plc, and Heyden, which sell its products to customers at retail prices.

In a statement signed by its management of Wednesday, Dangote Refinery it temporarily halted the sale of petroleum products in Naira “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,” it stated.

“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,” the statement emphasised.

The company also debunked reports that it stopped loading from its facility “due to an incident of ticketing fraud.”

Dangote Refinery described these reports as “malicious falsehood,” noting that its systems “are robust and we have had no fraud issues.”