The Crude Oil Refiners Association of Nigeria (CORAN) has revealed that individual refiners have written to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) requesting crude oil, but have yet to receive any response. This comes after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) recently approved a proposal by President Bola Tinubu to sell crude oil to the Dangote refinery and other upcoming refineries in naira.
Despite the directive, the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and other local refineries have not started purchasing crude oil in naira. The $20 billion Dangote plant, along with other domestic refineries, has not begun buying crude from the NNPC in naira, as instructed by President Tinubu last week.
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The FEC’s decision mandates that the 450,000 barrels designated for domestic consumption be offered in naira to Nigerian refineries, with the Dangote refinery serving as the pilot. The exchange rate for this transaction is to be fixed for its duration.
However, nearly a week after the announcement, refiners report they have not heard from the NNPC. Eche Idoko, Publicity Secretary of CORAN, stated that the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) is expected to initiate the process.
“Typically, we would expect our regulator, in this instance, the NMDPRA, to start the process by calling for a meeting of all parties to discuss the framework for such supply or have the NNPC respond to the various letters from the refineries requesting crude,” Idoko noted.
The refiners are now awaiting further action from the NNPC and the NMDPRA to kickstart the crude oil supply process under the new naira transaction framework.