Dangote Refinery will start distributing Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) on Sunday to only the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, represented by the Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Dr. Zacch Adedeji, made this disclosure during a press briefing in Abuja on Friday.
He said, “I am glad to announce that all agreements have been completed and loading of the first batch of PMS from the Dangote Refinery will commence on Sunday, Sept. 15.”
“From Oct. 1, NNPC Ltd. will commence the supply of about 385kbpd of crude oil to the Dangote Refinery, to be paid for in Naira. In return, the Dangote Refinery will supply PMS and diesel of equivalent value to the domestic market, to be paid in Naira.”
“Diesel will be sold in Naira by the Dangote Refinery to any interested off-taker. PMS will only be sold to NNPC, NNPC will then sell to various marketers for now,”
Edun stated that all related regulatory costs, including those from the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), would be paid in Naira.
He also mentioned plans to establish a one-stop shop to coordinate services from regulatory and security agencies, along with other stakeholders, to ensure the smooth implementation of the initiative. This coordination hub would be located at the NPA in Lagos.
Edun further explained that the technical committee, which developed the initiative, would transition into an implementation, execution, and monitoring committee, operating out of Lagos for the next three to six months.
Edun noted that the Federal Executive Council (FEC), led by President Bola Tinubu, had approved the sale of crude oil to local refineries in Naira, with petroleum products also being purchased in Naira.
He explained that this initiative would ease pressure on the Naira, cut unnecessary transaction costs, and improve the availability of petroleum products in the country.
The minister added that the implementation committee, which he chairs, along with the technical committee, had worked closely with NNPCL and Dangote Refinery to finalize the modalities for executing the FEC’s approval.
Meanwhile, Oil marketers have confirmed that they will start lifting petrol from the Dangote Petroleum Refinery next week.
“We should start loading from the plant next week and aside from that, so many marketers are planning to import PMS before the end of the month,” a major marketer, who spoke to our correspondent in confidence due to lack of authorisation to comment on the matter, stated.
The source added, “This means the deregulation of PMS prices has set in fully. Nobody wants to be at the whims and caprices of NNPC again.”
On whether there was an agreement on the price of Dangote petrol, the dealer replied, “The agreement on price has not been reached yet, but what I asked our people was how sure are we that we will get the market if we bring in products at about N1,100/litre?
“They now said many people are fed up with NNPC, adding that there will be an adequate market for the product. So, people should gear up for a price of about N1,200/litre, even from the depots. I know that many are going to bring in products to stimulate competition.
“In fact, for specifics, our imports should arrive in the country in the next 10 days all things being equal. So, we are doing both imports and Dangote, and that is the same with most major marketers. I don’t know which imports are going to come in first, but I know that about three or four major marketers are expecting products.”