Naira-for-Crude Policy: Nigerian Officials Reaffirm Commitment Amid Refinery Talks
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A high-level meeting of Nigeria’s Technical Sub-Committee on the Naira-for-Crude policy convened on Thursday at the Ministry of Finance headquarters in Abuja, as senior officials reaffirmed their commitment to the initiative designed to bolster domestic refining and stabilise fuel prices.
The closed-door session, attended by key government and industry stakeholders, assessed recent developments in the policy’s implementation. Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, participated virtually, alongside the Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Dr. Zacch Adedeji, and top representatives from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).
Others present included the Special Adviser to the Minister, Nana Ibrahim, the Coordinator of NNPC Refineries, officials from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Dangote Petroleum Refinery, and NNPC Trading Ltd.
According to a senior government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, NNPC provided a report on crude deliveries, detailing the volumes allocated for domestic refining under the scheme. The NMDPRA updated attendees on local production, covering operations at Dangote Petroleum Refinery, NNPC’s Warri Refinery, and the Port Harcourt Refinery. The NUPRC, meanwhile, outlined crude availability for domestic refiners to ensure a stable supply.
The meeting comes amid ongoing negotiations between NNPC and Dangote Petroleum Refinery over the renewal of the naira-for-crude arrangement, which is set to expire on 31 March 2025. Reports had surfaced suggesting that NNPC had suspended the policy until 2030 after forward-selling its crude oil, a claim the company swiftly denied in a statement on Monday.
Fresh figures indicate that crude oil worth approximately ₦486.31bn was supplied to the $20bn Lekki-based refinery under the agreement between October and December 2024. Since its launch in October 2024, the naira-for-crude initiative has seen 48 million barrels allocated to Dangote’s 650,000-barrel-per-day refinery, while total supplies to the facility since its 2023 inauguration stand at 84 million barrels.
Dr. Adedeji, who chairs the Technical Sub-Committee, reiterated the government’s stance that the policy remains intact. He dismissed any notion of its termination, insisting that the scheme is delivering on its objectives of securing domestic fuel supplies and reducing Nigeria’s reliance on costly petroleum imports. “There is substantial evidence supporting this policy as the correct approach,” he affirmed.
As discussions on the renewal of the agreement progress, stakeholders remain watchful over its impact on fuel availability and the broader economy.
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