Sales of crude oil against naira began on October 1

The federal government says it has started selling crude oil and other refined products in naira.

It said the initiative was launched on October 1, 2024, without providing further details on the contract agreement signed and the price of the product.

The Ministry of Finance announced this in a post on its X-Handle (formerly Twitter) on Saturday.

The statement said: “The Minister of Finance and the Coordinating Minister for Economy announced that the sale of crude oil and refined petroleum products in Naira has officially commenced from October 1, 2024, in line with the directive of the Federal Executive Council.”

“Following a meeting of the Implementation Committee chaired by the Minister of Finance on October 3, 2024 to conduct a retrospective review of the Naira Sales of Crude Oil and Refined Products initiative, the commencement of this strategic initiative was confirmed by key stakeholders.”

Last month, the Technical Subcommittee on Domestic Crude Oil Sales in Local Currency announced that the Federal Executive Council led by President Bola Tinubu has approved the sale of crude oil to local refineries in Naira and the corresponding purchase of petroleum products in Naira.

“From October 1, NNPC will commence supply of about 385 kbpd (385,000 barrels per day) of crude oil to Dangote Refinery paid in naira,” the committee had said.

Similarly, the Chairman, Special Adviser on Media, Federal Inland Revenue Service, Mr. Dare Adekanbi, responded in the affirmative to a query on Sunday on whether the crude oil supply plan to the $20 billion Lekki plant was still intact.

But officials at Dangote and other refineries said on Thursday they did not know whether the deal had already begun.

Officials from the Dangote Refinery and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, the Federal Ministry of Finance and NNPC also remained silent when asked for updates on the naira for crude oil deal between NNPC and Dangote.

The government said in September that the Naira for Crude Oil initiative would help reduce pressure on the naira, eliminate unnecessary transaction costs and improve the availability of petroleum products across the country.

“Since then, the Implementation Committee chaired by the Minister of Finance and we, the Technical Committee, have worked extensively with NNPC and Dangote Refinery to work out the details of the modalities for the implementation of the FEC approval,” Adedeji had explained.

While explaining that crude oil will 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 to the domestic market at the same value as those denominated in naira be paid.” .

“Diesel will be sold in Naira from Dangote Refinery to any interested buyer. PMS is only sold to NNPC. NNPC will then initially sell to various marketers. All related regulatory costs (NPA, NIMASA etc.) are also paid in Naira. We are also establishing a single point of contact to coordinate service delivery across regulators, security agencies and other stakeholders to ensure smooth implementation of this initiative.”

The statement added that officials at the meeting included Minister of State for Petroleum (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, Special Adviser to the President on Revenue, Zaccheus Adedeji, Special Adviser to the President on Energy, Olu Verheijen, Managing Director of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority Engr. Farouk Ahmed, representing the Chairman of Dangote Group, Vice President of Dangote Group and management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company led by Group Chief Executive Officer Mele Kyari, Chief Financial Officer Umar Ajiya and NEPAL Executive Vice President (Downstream), Adeyemi Adetunji.