President Bola Tinubu has directed the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) to sell crude oil to Dangote Refinery and other new refineries in Naira.
The announcement was made by Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Publicity, through his official X account on Monday.
Onanuga indicated that this policy, approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC), is designed to stabilize the price of refined fuel and the exchange rate between the dollar and the Naira.
The Dangote Refinery currently requires 15 cargoes of crude annually, at an estimated cost of $13.5 billion. NNPC has agreed to provide four cargoes.
Under the new plan, the 450,000 barrels allocated for domestic use will be sold in Naira to Nigerian refineries, with the Dangote Refinery as the initial pilot.
The statement also mentioned, “The exchange rate will be fixed for the duration of this arrangement.”
Afreximbank and other Nigerian settlement banks will handle the transactions between Dangote and NNPC Limited. This measure is expected to remove the necessity for international letters of credit, thereby reducing dollar expenditures for the country.