The Crude Oil Refinery-owners Association of Nigeria (CORAN) announced that none of its members have started receiving crude oil sales in the local currency, naira. Echie Idoko, the Public Secretary of CORAN, disclosed this during an interview with Channels TV on Wednesday.
This follows President Bola Tinubu’s Federal Executive Council (FEC) approval for the sale of crude oil to the Dangote refinery in naira. The initiative aims to create a seamless approach to accessibility and supply for the $19 billion petrochemical plant.
Despite the announcement, Idoko emphasized the need for regulatory steps to implement the FEC’s new mandate effectively. “There have to be guidelines from the regulatory agencies that will explain the process of accessibility of crude in naira,” Idoko stated.
“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 to be 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, there 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 explained.
Earlier, Nairametrics reported that the FEC approved the sale of crude oil to the Dangote refinery in naira to ensure availability and accessibility to the plant and reduce pressure on the foreign exchange market. This approval followed weeks of conflicts between Dangote and the oil and gas regulatory agencies, providing a lifeline for the refinery to get crude from NNPC in local currency.
The directive will see the 450,000 barrels of crude earmarked for domestic consumption sold to Nigerian refineries in naira, with Dangote Refinery serving as the pilot for this initiative. Additionally, the $19 billion refinery will sell its refined products to Nigeria in naira, ensuring a seamless transaction process in the mid and downstream sectors.
The Dangote Refinery has recently clashed with Nigeria’s oil regulatory bodies, particularly the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA). The NMDPRA accused the refinery of selling low-quality diesel, inferior to imported diesel. Aliko Dangote, the refinery’s owner, has vehemently denied these allegations, asserting that his plant produces the best quality diesel in Nigeria.
In response to this controversy, President Tinubu announced the approval of crude oil sales to the Dangote refinery in naira, ensuring the plant’s availability.