KEY POINTS
- Officials are silent as the naira-for-crude deal faces delays.
- Domestic refineries are still waiting for official communication.
- The government assures the naira-for-crude initiative is still on track.
There are signs that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd.’s supply of crude oil, paid in naira, to the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, scheduled to begin on Oct. 1, has not yet started as of Thursday, Oct. 3.
Silence from key officials as crude feal Falters
Officials from the Dangote refinery, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, the Federal Ministry of Finance, and NNPC declined to comment when contacted for updates on the naira-for-crude deal between NNPC and Dangote.
On Monday, Punch reported information shared by the Technical Subcommittee on Domestic Sales of Crude Oil in Local Currency. The committee had confirmed that the crude oil supply in naira from NNPC to the Dangote refinery would start on Tuesday, Oct. 1.
Dare Adekanmbi also confirmed on Sunday that the crude oil supply to the $20 billion Lekki-based plant was still on track.
“I can confirm that the chairman of the Subcommittee, Zacch Adedeji, is working day and night to ensure that things go according to plan. He knows how important it is to implement the agreement as planned for the benefit of Nigerians,” Adekanmbi, special adviser on media to the FIRS chairman said.
Refinery sources confirm deal has yet to begin
However, on Thursday, sources from three domestic refineries said they were unaware if the deal had begun.
NNPC officials declined to provide updates and referred inquiries to the Ministry of Finance, which did not respond when contacted.
A senior official at a domestic refinery said refiners, including Dangote, were still waiting on the federal government for the crude supply in naira.
The government’s committee on crude-for-naira had assured operators that efforts were underway to deliver on the deal. “They said it would start on Oct. 1. The technical committee is handling it, and they are supposed to reach an agreement and communicate it to us,” the official said. “But I can tell you that, as of now, we haven’t received that communication yet. We are still waiting.”
Another source from a major modular refinery said, “The body representing crude oil refiners in Nigeria hasn’t received official communication on the deal yet. We spoke with the government last week, and they assured us that the deal was still on course.
Government assurances amid delays in the naira-for-crude initiative
In September, the government said the naira-for-crude initiative would help ease pressure on the naira, eliminate unnecessary transaction costs, and improve the availability of petroleum products nationwide.
Adedeji claimed that since then, the implementation committee, under the direction of the finance minister, has worked to finalize the FEC approval details. The technical committee has also collaborated closely with NNPC and the Dangote refinery to implement the approval effectively.
NNPC will exclusively purchase PMS and distribute it to various marketers for now. NNPC will also pay all associated regulatory costs (NPA, NIMASA, etc.) in naira. We are setting up a one-stop shop to coordinate services from all regulatory agencies, security agencies, and other stakeholders to ensure a smooth implementation of this initiative,” Adedeji said.
The technical committee, which worked on the initiative, would transition into an implementation, execution, and monitoring committee, working from Lagos for the next three to six months.
