Oil refiners explains why Dangote, others are not receiving crude sale in naira despite FG’s instructions

• The native currency, naira, is not yet used by members of the Crude Oil Refiners Association of Nigeria (CORAN)
• This information was disclosed on Wednesday in an interview with Channels TV by CORAN's press secretary, Echie Idoko
• In light of this, Idoko stated that actions need to be taken to ensure that the new FEC requirement is implemented

Legit.ng journalist Zainab Iwayemi has over 3-year-experience covering the Economy, Technology, and Capital Market.

Information released by the Crude Oil Refiners Association of Nigeria (CORAN) has disclosed that its members have not yet received sales of crude oil in naira, the local currency.

Refiners said regulation bodies must issue recommendations outlining the naira-accessible methods for obtaining crude oil. Photo Credit: Natnan Srisuwan
Source: Getty Images

Echie Idoko, the press secretary for CORAN, revealed this on Wednesday in an interview with Channels TV.

Earlier, President Bola Tinubu authorised the sale of crude oil to the Dangote refinery in naira through the Federal Executive Council (FEC) in order to improve accessibility and supply to the $19 billion petrochemical facility.

As contained in a Leadership report, Idoko said that steps must be taken to guarantee the new FEC mandate is carried out in spite of this announcement.

He said that regulatory agencies need to provide guidelines to clarify how crude oil can be accessed in naira.

“We have mentioned where we are on several fronts. As it stands right now, none of our members have started uplifting crude oil in Naira. Of course, we did mention that the pronouncement was welcoming, but there were still a few steps that had to be taken for it to become implementable. It was just a federal executive council statement. There is a need for a regulatory framework that would enable us to access crude in Naira.“There has to be a guideline as to how we can access. We have to know exactly what quantity is coming to us in Naira. All those details have to be worked out. We know it’s a recent pronouncement, so we will give the government the benefit of the doubt.“We are hoping that in the coming days, they will be sitting down with us as stakeholders because you can’t shave a man’s head in his absence. We are hoping that our members should be part and parcel of the processes,” the CORAN chairman said.

FG orders sale of crude in naira

To guarantee the plant's supply and lessen pressure on the foreign exchange market, the FEC had already approved the sale of crude oil to the Dangote refinery in Naira.

After weeks of disputes between Dangote and the oil and gas regulatory bodies, this permission gave the refinery the ability to purchase crude from NNPC with local money.

The Dangote refinery in Naira was to receive crude oil, and the FEC had already approved this sale in order to guarantee the plant's supply and ease pressure on the foreign exchange market.

After weeks of disputes, Dangote and the oil and gas regulatory bodies were able to reach an agreement that allowed the refinery to pay in local currency for crude oil from NNPC.

Expert explains why Dangote cannot crash fuel price

Legit.ng reported that an expert in the oil and gas industry has asked the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority to resist pressure, arguing that the country was not ready to stop importing refined petroleum products.

This came after the NMDPRA Chief Executive, Farouk Ahmed, made accusations that the Dangote refinery wanted him to stop granting licenses for petrol imports, which prompted the experts to make this statement.

According to Ahmed, he turned down the request to prevent monopolies and guarantee national energy security.

Source: Legit.ng