The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has stopped the sale of petroleum products in Naira.
The management of the refinery said in a statement on Wednesday that the decision was necessary to avoid a mismatch between its sales proceeds and crude oil purchase obligations, which are currently denominated in U.S. dollars.
It, however, assured that as soon as it receives an allocation of Naira-denominated crude cargoes from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), it will resume the sales of petroleum products in Naira.
“To date, our sales of petroleum products in Naira have exceeded the value of Naira-denominated crude we have received. As a result, we must temporarily adjust our sales currency to align with our crude procurement currency,” the statement read.
The management also dismissed reports that it had stopped loading due to an incident of ticketing fraud, pointing out that “our systems are robust and we have had no fraud issues.”
It further reiterated its commitment to serving the Nigerian market efficiently and sustainably.
The federal government’s naira-for-crude policy which came into effect in October 2024 for an initial period of six months, to enable the state-owned oil company, NNPC, supply crude to the refinery is billed to end this month.
Earlier reports had said the NNPC had no plans of extending the agreement but the company had in a statement, said it was renegotiating a new deal with the refinery.