LAGOS, Nigeria — The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has announced the temporary suspension of petroleum product sales in naira, citing the need to align its sales currency with its crude oil procurement obligations, which are denominated in U.S. dollars.
The decision, announced in a statement on Wednesday, March 19, 2025, comes amid ongoing challenges with the naira-for-crude oil deal between the refinery and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited.
The refinery stated that the move was necessary to avoid a mismatch between its sales proceeds and crude oil purchase obligations.
“To date, our sales of petroleum products in naira have exceeded the value of naira-denominated crude we have received,” the statement read. “As a result, we must temporarily adjust our sales currency to align with our crude procurement currency.”
The announcement follows a report by TheCable that the refinery would stop loading petroleum products for the Nigerian market due to stalled progress in renegotiating the naira-for-crude deal. Sources revealed that the refinery would continue to load products for export, as it currently sources all its crude stock from the international market in dollars.
Dangote Refinery also dismissed claims that the suspension was due to ticketing fraud, describing such reports as “malicious falsehoods.”
“Our attention has also been drawn to reports on the internet claiming that we are stopping loading due to an incident of ticketing fraud. This is a malicious falsehood. Our systems are robust, and we have had no fraud issues,” the statement said.
The refinery assured that sales in naira would resume as soon as it receives naira-denominated crude oil supplies from the NNPC.
“We remain committed to serving the Nigerian market efficiently and sustainably. As soon as we receive an allocation of naira-denominated crude cargoes from NNPC, we will promptly resume petroleum product sales in naira,” the statement added.
The naira-for-crude deal, which allows local refineries to purchase crude oil in naira, was introduced to support domestic refining and reduce reliance on imported petroleum products.
However, the initiative has faced significant challenges, including inadequate crude oil supplies and delays in renegotiating the agreement.
On 10 March, TheCable reported that the NNPC had suspended the naira-for-crude deal until 2030, as the company had forward-sold all its crude oil.
However, the NNPC later clarified that negotiations were ongoing for a new agreement, with the current deal set to expire at the end of March.
Zaach Adedeji, Chairman of the Naira-for-Crude Policy Technical Sub-Committee, reassured stakeholders that the naira-based crude oil supply arrangement with local refineries had not been discontinued.
Nigeria officially commenced the sale of crude oil and refined petroleum products in naira on 1 October 2024, following approval by the Federal Executive Council (FEC).
The policy, proposed by President Bola Tinubu, aimed to strengthen the local currency and support domestic refining capacity.
However, in November 2022, Dangote Refinery raised concerns about the faltering naira-for-crude initiative, stating that it was unable to secure adequate crude oil supplies.
