NPA establishes one-stop hub to optimise crude sales to Dangote Refinery

The Nigerian Ports Authority has announced the commencement of its role in implementing the Federal Government’s directive to coordinate services from regulatory, security, and other stakeholders for the smooth execution of the initiative to sell crude oil and petroleum products to the Dangote Refinery in naira.

In a statement released on Thursday, the Managing Director of the NPA, Dr Abubakar Dantsoho, revealed that the committee, which serves as a one-stop shop for the sale of petroleum products in naira, is now housed within the NPA.

Speaking at the inter-agency stakeholders’ meeting on the one-stop shop in Lagos, Dantsoho expressed the agency’s commitment to ensuring the necessary efficiencies to fulfil the mandate.

“We are ready to collaborate and provide the efficiencies required to deliver on this national imperative of ensuring the availability of Premium Motor Spirit and other petroleum products”, Dantsoho said.

He added that the agency is establishing a one-stop shop to coordinate service provision from all regulatory, security agencies, and other stakeholders to guarantee the seamless execution of this initiative.

According to him, the initiative aligns with the Federal Government’s directive to locate the one-stop shop within the NPA.

The One-Stop Shop team comprises representatives from the NPA, Nigerian Navy, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited, Dangote Group, Federal Inland Revenue Service, Nigeria Customs Service, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency.

Ms Maureen Ogbonna, a senior official from the NPA’s Marine & Operations Directorate, has been appointed as the focal person for the OSS.

The PUNCH reports that the Technical Sub-Committee on Domestic Sales of Crude Oil in Local Currency confirmed that the supply of crude oil in naira by the NNPC to the Dangote Petroleum Refinery is scheduled to begin on Tuesday, 1 October 2024.

On September 13, 2024, the committee announced that the Federal Executive Council, led by President Bola Tinubu, had approved the sale of crude to local refineries in naira, alongside the purchase of petroleum products in naira.

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