Expectations are high on the possible reduction in the cost of Premium Motor Spirit(Petrol) as the Nigerian government has confirmed that it will begin the supply of crude in Naira by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited to the Dangote Refinery from Tuesday, October 2024.
Dare Adekanmbi, the spokesperson to the Chairman of the Technical Sub-Committee on Domestic Sales of Crude Oil in Local Currency, Zacch Adedeji and the Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service confirmed this in a statement on Sunday.
“I can confirm to you that the Chairman, Sub-Technical Committee, Zacch Adedeji, is working day and night to ensure that things go according to plans. He knows how important it is to have the agreement implemented as has been planned for the benefit of Nigerians,” Adekanmbi said
Specifically, the committee, on September 13, 2024, announced that the Federal Executive Council under the leadership of President Bola Tinubu approved the sale of crude to local refineries in naira and the corresponding purchase of petroleum products in naira to begin from October 1, 2024.
The Committee said, “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 in naira,” the committee declared.
This means that NNPC is set to supply about 11.5 million barrels of crude oil to the Dangote refinery monthly, and based on the deal, the plant will release equivalent volumes of refined diesel and petrol to the domestic market also in naira.
Meanwhile, the Publicity Secretary of the Crude Oil Refinery-owners Association of Nigeria, Eche Idoko, on Sunday stated that the Naira for crude deal should be extended to other modular refineries in the country and not only Dangote Refinery.
“The committee is only discussing with Dangote at the moment.”
Earlier, Petroleum Marketers had aaid that when crude oil is sold to Dangote Refinery and other refineries in Naira, the price of petrol will drop.
Billy Gillis-Harry, the National President of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria made this known in August 2024.
The development comes as Nigerians buy fuel between N950 and N1,100 per litre nationwide after NNPCL announced fresh prices following the lifting of Dangote Petrol on September 15, 2024.
The State-owned oil firm had revealed that it bought Dangote Refinery Petrol at N898 per litre but the $20 billion worth of refinery had disagreed.
Dangote Refinery had asked Nigerians to wait on the Adedeji-led committee to reveal the price of its product upon commencement of crude sale in the Naira deal.
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Recently, the President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote claimed his petrol was cheaper than the imported ones but did not mention the price of his petrol.
However, members of the House of Representatives had mandated Dangote Refinery to reveal the price of its Petrol but up to date, that information has remained private
Stakeholders has queried the rationale of selling the products to NNPCL rather than the marketers, saying that the products would be cheaper when sold directly to them.
However, expectations are high that as soon as the deal commences on Tuesday, respite might come the way of burdened consumers who are currently contending with high inflationary pressures, low value of the Naira and above all, general insecurity.