The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has announced that it has halted the importation of refined petroleum products.
NNPC’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, revealed this on Monday at the ongoing 42nd Annual International Conference and Exhibition of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE).
“Today, NNPC does not import any product, we are taking only from domestic refineries,” he said.
This development comes as some petroleum marketers claim they could import fuel and sell it at a lower price than that from Dangote’s $20 billion refinery.
Domestic refining
On domestic refining, Kyari refuted media claims that the NNPC is undermining local refining efforts by being unwilling to support domestic refineries.
“We are very proud part-owners of Dangote refinery, no doubt about it. We saw an opportunity that there is a clear market for at least 300,000 barrels of our production; we know that as time moves on, people will start struggling to find markets for their production,”
“It will happen, It’s already happening. Oil is found, as you know, in many unexpected locations across the world and people have choices. Therefore we saw an opportunity to log supply to the domestic refinery, not just Dangote but any other refinery that operates in the country, so it was a very informed business decision,” he noted.
He stated, “Therefore, from day one, we knew it was in our best interest to supply crude oil to domestic refineries, so there was no need for us to be persuaded.”
Naira to crude
The CEO of NNPC also rejected allegations that the company was unwilling to sell crude oil to the Dangote refinery in naira, dismissing any suggestion that it was trying to undermine the refinery’s operations.
“There are too many claimants out there, that the NNPC does not want to sell crude to the refinery in naira as a form of sabotage. Far from it! It makes no difference to us because if you sell crude to the domestic refinery in naira and you buy the product in naira from the domestic refinery, it’s a net zero gain. You lose nothing, you probably gain nothing,”
“Whatever you do, you still have to source foreign exchange to import if you have to import. So, if you stop the import and sell in naira, what you are simply doing is just a substitution. It’s a settlement platform and we must commend the President for bringing this initiative,”
