Tuesday, November 12, 2024 -The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has announced that it has stopped importing refined petroleum products. Speaking at the 42nd Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE) annual international conference and exhibition in Lagos, NNPC Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) Mele Kyari confirmed that the company is now sourcing fuel exclusively from domestic refineries, including the Dangote Petroleum Refinery.
“Today, NNPC does not import any product, we are taking only from
domestic refineries,” Kyari stated, highlighting the shift towards a locally
sourced supply chain.
In a recent deregulation move, the federal government ended NNPC’s sole
off-taker role, allowing other marketers to purchase directly from local
refineries. Addressing claims that the NNPC was not supportive of local
refineries, Kyari refuted the notion, emphasizing the company’s commitment to
domestic refining.
“We are very proud part-owners of Dangote refinery, no doubt about it,”
he said. Kyari explained that NNPC’s decision to supply local refineries was
based on strategic business insight. “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. Therefore, we saw an opportunity to log supply to the domestic
refinery, not just Dangote but any other refinery that operates in the
country.”
Addressing calls for Nigeria to fully domesticate its oil, Kyari pointed
out that Nigeria’s crude is often blended with lower-quality crude in the
global market. “We should never forget that Nigerian crude is ’Lamborghini
crude,’” Kyari said, explaining that if all domestic products were derived from
high-quality Nigerian crude, it would impact pricing. “Everybody buys Nigerian
crude and blends it with dirtier crude to process… no one takes Nigerian crude
except one or two refineries that I know.”
Kyari further commented on quality concerns, suggesting that product
quality is relative. “You are driving a Keke-Napep and you want Lamborghini
fuel, you do not need it. So, the quality issue is a relative thing… we will do
everything possible to make sure that we domesticate this.”
The NNPC GCEO also dispelled rumors that the company was reluctant to
sell crude to Dangote in naira, refuting claims of sabotage. “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!” he said. Kyari explained
that selling in naira would be a neutral transaction, adding, “It’s a net zero
gain. You lose nothing, you probably gain nothing.”
Kyari praised President Bola Tinubu for backing this approach, noting
that settling such transactions domestically would reduce foreign exchange (FX)
pressure on the naira. “If you stop the import and sell in naira, what you are
simply doing is just a substitution… you would have controlled inflation, and
you would have controlled the FX pressure because we would have settled the
exchange rate for 50 percent of your imports.”
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