The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has revealed that it purchased fuel from the Dangote Refinery at N898 per litre, dispelling earlier reports suggesting a price of N760 per litre. This marks the first official purchase of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol, from the 650,000-barrel capacity refinery in Lagos.
Speaking to Daily Trust, NNPCL’s Chief Spokesperson, Olufemi Soneye, confirmed that loading began on Sunday, with over 70 trucks filled as of the time of reporting. “We successfully loaded PMS at the Dangote Refinery today, and the price from the refinery was N898 per litre,” Soneye stated.
This development follows an announcement by Wale Edun, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, who had declared that NNPCL would be the sole buyer of petrol from the Dangote Refinery. Diesel, however, would be sold to any interested off-takers in Naira, while petrol would exclusively be sold to NNPCL for distribution to marketers across the country.
The agreements and modalities for the sale of crude oil to local refineries in Naira were completed last Friday during a meeting of the Technical Sub-Committee on the matter. Zacch Adedeji, Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), who represented the finance minister, confirmed that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) had approved the sale of crude oil in Naira, underlining the government’s efforts to boost the domestic refining capacity and ensure a stable fuel supply.
This milestone signals the operational readiness of the Dangote Refinery, a key project aimed at reducing Nigeria’s dependence on imported fuel and improving the availability of locally refined petroleum products.
