President Bola Tinubu directed the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited to sell crude oil to Dangote Refinery in naira.
This is expected to put to rest the messy face-off between the Dangote Refinery and government regulatory agencies in the oil sector over the supply of crude and quality of products coming from the new refinery.
The presidential order was disclosed on Monday by the Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, on his X handle.
Onanuga said the decision was taken at the Federal Executive Council meeting to ensure the stability of the pump price of refined fuel.
He wrote: “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 a cost of $13.5 billion 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 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 of billions of dollars used in importing refined fuel.”
