Deborah Akinyosoye
Amid challenges of crude availability to local refineries, especially Dangote Refinery, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), yesterday, said 84 million barrels of crude oil has been supplied to Dangote.
It denied the stoppage of the naira-for-crude deal.
Also, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) joined the NNPCL to insist that the naira-for-crude policy remains in place.
Meanwhile, Petroleum Products Retail Outlets owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN) said marketers lost billions due to the downward review of fuel prices by NNPCL and Dangote.
Reacting to fluctuations and price instability, PETROAN recommended a six-month price stability mechanism.
If the refinery was operating at full capacity of 650,000 per day, the supply would translate to about 130 days or three months.
But the facility has operated averagely around 400,000 barrels per day, meaning that the supply from NNPCL translates to seven months sufficiency.
In October last year, the Federal Government entered a deal to sell crude to Dangote and other refiners in naira. While the six-month deal, structured primarily around the federation’s share of produced oil, is expected to end this month, there were allegations that the national oil company terminated the deal.
Going by government plans, from October 1, 2024, NNPC was expected to supply about 385,000 barrels per day of crude oil to Dangote to be paid for in naira. The value of the supply between October and end of February, which is 151 days, should see NNPCL supply the refinery 58 million barrels of crude.
The national oil company said, yesterday, that 48 million barrels of crude oil was made available to the refinery since October 2024. This means that the company could not supply 10 million barrels.
Sources at the NNPCL, who pleaded anonymity, however, disclosed that the refinery failed to meet its part of the bargain in terms of supply of agreed petroleum products.
Chief Corporate Communications Officer NNPCL, Olufemi Soneye, stated that discussions were ongoing towards a new contract. But he did not state if the contract would be in naira.
According to him, NNPC will remain committed to supplying crude oil for local refining based on mutually agreed terms and conditions.
THE chairman, Technical Sub-Committee, Naira-for-Crude Policy, Zacch Adedeji, stated, yesterday, that against, widespread report, the initiative is still in place.
Adedeji, who is the Executive Chairman of FIRS, said reports that the policy had been discontinued “do not reflect the realities of the ongoing work” under the Federal Executive Council Initiative on Domestic Sales of Crude Oil and Refined Products in Naira.
The statement made available yesterday reads: “The policy framework enabling the sale of crude oil in naira for domestic refining remains in force. The initiative was designed to ensure supply stability and optimise the utilisation of local refining capacity. There has been no decision at the policy level to discontinue this approach nor is it being considered. After implementing the policy for some months, evidence abounds that it is the right way to go and it will continue to help the economy.”
PETROAN spokesman, Joseph Obele, yesterday, stressed the need for healthy competition and price stability within Nigeria’s petroleum downstream sector.
Last week, NNPCL dropped its retail petrol price to N860 and N880 per litre from N945 and N965 in Lagos and Abuja, respectively, following Dangote’s price slash to N860 and N880 per litre across its retail partners.
The development sparked a fresh price war between NNPCL and Dangote Refinery.
“PETROAN is firmly committed to the Petroleum Industry Stakeholders Forum and stands firm in advocating for healthy competition, full liberalisation and price stability in the downstream sector. We urgently urge Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to quickly swing into action to ensure fair pricing.
“We believe that by working together, industry stakeholders, government and consumers can create a vibrant, competitive market that benefits everyone.
“For the average citizen, sudden spikes in fuel prices can lead to financial strain and uncertainty,” Obele said.
The association stressed that the sudden price cut resulted in massive losses, with those affected counting their losses in billions of naira.
