The Technical Sub-Committee on Domestic Sales of Oil in Local Currency affirmed on Sunday that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited’s (NNPCL) supply of oil in naira to the Dangote Petroleum Refinery will begin on Tuesday, October 1, 2024.
On September 13, 2024, the committee announced that the Federal Executive Council, led by President Bola Tinubu, had approved the sale of crude to local refineries in naira, as well as the purchase of petroleum products in naira.
“From October 1, NNPC will commence the supply of about 385 kbpd (385,000 barrels per day) of crude oil to the Dangote refinery to be paid for in naira,” the committee had declared.
Zacch Adedeji, who also serves as Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, chairs the Technical Subcommittee.
When questioned on Sunday if the plan for crude oil delivery to the $20 billion Lekki-based facility was still in place, the Special Adviser on Media to the FIRS Chairman, Mr. Dare Adekanmbi, reacted in the affirmative.
He said, “I can confirm to you that the Chairman, Sub-Technical Committee, Zacch Adedeji, is working day and night to ensure that things go according to plan.” He knows how important it is to have the agreement implemented as has been planned for the benefit of Nigerians.”
This means that NNPC will supply the Dantote refinery with around 11.5 million barrels of crude oil per month, and the plant will release equal volumes of refined diesel and petrol to the domestic market in naira as part of the agreement.
In September, the panel claimed that this move will help to decrease naira pressure, eliminate superfluous transaction expenses, and increase petroleum product supply throughout the country.
“Since then, the implementation committee chaired by the Minister of Finance and we, the technical committee, have worked intensely with NNPC and Dangote refinery to fashion out the details of the modalities for the implementation of the FEC approval,” Adedeji had stated.
While announcing that crude would be sold to Dangote in naira from October 1, the committee chairman and FIRS boss said, “In return, the Dangote refinery will supply PMS (petrol) and diesel of equivalent value to the domestic market to be paid in naira.
“Diesel will be sold in naira by the Dangote refinery to any interested off-taker. PMS will only be sold to NNPC. NNPC will then sell to various marketers for now. All associated regulatory costs (NPA, NIMASA, etc.) will also be paid in naira. We are also setting up a one-stop shop that will coordinate service provision from all regulatory agencies, security agencies, and other stakeholders to ensure a smooth implementation of this initiative.”
Adedeji added that the technical team that worked to develop the initiative would transition to an implementation execution and monitoring committee based in Lagos for the following three to six months.
The committee, which includes the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Finance, Mrs. Lydia Jafiya, the FIRS boss, and representatives from NNPC, the Central Bank of Nigeria, AfreximBank, and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, was formed to develop a strong template for the initiative’s successful implementation.
