The Nigerian government has announced that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited will be the exclusive purchaser of Premium Motors Spirit from Dangote Refinery. Marketers interested in acquiring the product will need to obtain it from the national oil firm through its trading company. This decision was part of an agreement made with Dangote Refinery regarding the commercial terms for crude oil supply to the refinery and the distribution of petrol and diesel from the facility.
The Minister of Finance and the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, shared this information during a press briefing in Abuja. The directive signifies a shift from NNPC’s previous statement indicating it did not plan to be the sole distributor of petrol from the refinery. It also implies that the government can regulate the product’s pricing based on the agreement with the refinery.
Dangote Refinery is set to begin petrol distribution to marketers, starting with 25 million litres per day on Sunday. The agreement includes NNPC supplying crude oil to Dangote Refinery, which will, in turn, provide petrol and diesel to the domestic market. The transactions will be conducted in naira.
The minister mentioned that all related regulatory costs, such as those of the Nigeria Ports Authority and Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, will also be settled in naira. The decision to trade crude oil with local refineries in naira and purchase petrol in the local currency aims to ease pressure on the local currency, reduce transaction expenses, and enhance the availability of petroleum products in the country.