Following the suspension of fuel sales in Naira by the Dangote refinery to the general public, the Federal Government’s Naira-for-crude committee has invited Dangote group for a meeting yesterday to reconsider continuation of the crude sales deal with the Refinery to avert price uncertainty.
A source in the Petroleum Resources and Finance Ministry, who preferred anonymity, made this known on yesterday.
Dangote Refinery had on Tuesday announced that it was suspending petrol product sales in Naira to general public following a stalemate in discussion between the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL and the Dangote Refinery over the continuation of the Naira-for-crude sale contract.
The announcement by Dangote triggered a speculation of price hike across the country when Nigerians were already enjoying low price from Dangote product.
It was learned that NNPCL was in a dilemma of crude availability following the fact that the federal government had pre-sold large volumes to foreign creditors under its crude-backed loans.
“The scheme won’t end. The challenging point is the issue of crude availability, with NNPC claiming it has pre-sold large volumes of crude.
The official said “The committee agreed to reconvene on Monday (next week) to review options that the Nigeria Upstream Petroleum
Regulatory Commission has been mandated to come up with. The committee is trying to dimension solution options”.
Recall that the committee last week met at the Ministry of Finance Headquarters in Abuja to assess developments and reaffirm commitments to the naira-for-crude policy framework.
The meeting had in attendance the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun (who joined virtually); the Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Dr. Zacch Adedeji; the Chief Financial Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company; the Executive Commissioner of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (who also joined virtually); and other stakeholders.
Reacting, the National President of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria, Billy Gillis-Harry, revealed that its members will not hesitate to seek for alternative sources of petroleum products.
Gillis-Harry said, “The market is making preparations for any surprises. So, if there are surprises, we’ll have alternatives to go to”.
Similarly, president of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Hammed Fashola, appealed to government for the continuation of the Naira-for-crude policy in order to maintain the tempo of the petrol price template currently being enjoyed in the country.
Fashola said, “I would like to advise the FG to look into the agreement with Dangote again to maintain the tempo of the prices of petroleum products”.
