FG commences crude oil-for-naira sales

Sales of crude oil and other refined products in naira has commenced.

The Federal Government said that it commenced the initiative on October 1, 2024.

The Ministry of Finance disclosed this in a post on its X handle on Saturday.

However, it did not provide details of the signed contractual agreement and pricing of the product.

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

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

Recall that the Technical Sub-Committee on Domestic Sales of Crude Oil in Local Currency had, last month, announced that the Federal Executive Council led by President Bola Tinubu had approved sale of crude oil to local refineries in naira as well as the corresponding purchase of petroleum products in naira.

The committee had declared: “From October 1, NNPC will commence the supply of about 385kbpd (385,000 barrels per day) of crude oil to the Dangote refinery to be paid for in naira.”

However, officials at the Dangote Refinery and those at the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, Federal Ministry of Finance, and NNPC, haven’t confirmed updates on the naira-for-crude deal between NNPC and Dangote.

In September, the FG explained that the naira-for-crude initiative would alleviate pressure on the naira, eliminate unnecessary transaction costs, and improve the availability of petroleum products across the country.

“Diesel will be sold in naira by the Dangote refinery to any interested off-taker. PMS will only be sold to NNPC. NNPC will then sell to various marketers for now. All associated regulatory costs (NPA, NIMASA, etc.) will also be paid in naira. We are also setting up a one-stop shop that will coordinate service provision from all regulatory agencies, security agencies, and other stakeholders to ensure a smooth implementation of this initiative,” the statement said.

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