Oredola Adeola

The Federal Government has announced that the first batch of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) will be loaded from the Dangote Refinery on Sunday, September 15, under the management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).

This marks a significant milestone in the government’s effort to enhance local refining capacity and alleviate pressure on the Naira.

Mr. Wale Edun, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, represented by Dr. Zacch Adedeji, Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), confirmed the development on Friday in Abuja.

Speaking after the Technical Sub-Committee meeting on the sale of crude oil to local refineries in Naira, Edun announced that all agreements and modalities for the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approval on this initiative have been concluded.

The FEC had earlier approved the sale of crude oil to local refineries and the corresponding purchase of petroleum products in Naira.

This initiative, according to Edun, will help reduce pressure on the Naira, eliminate unnecessary transaction costs, and improve the availability of petroleum products across the country.

“The implementation committee, chaired by the Minister of Finance, alongside the technical committee, has worked intensely with NNPCL and the Dangote Refinery to finalize the details.

“We are pleased to announce that the loading of the first batch of PMS will begin on Sunday, September 15,” Edun said.

According to him, the Dangote Refinery, will in return supply petrol and diesel of equivalent value to the domestic market, also to be paid for in Naira.

He said, “While diesel will be sold to any interested buyer, PMS will be exclusively sold to NNPCL for distribution to various oil marketers.

“All associated regulatory costs, including those from the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), will also be settled in Naira.

Advisors Reports further confirmed that the NNPCL has mobilized 500 trucks to the facility, enabling the transportation of about 25 million liters of PMS, in preparation of this development.

Additionally, NNPCL has reportedly raised a Letter of Credit (LC) for $100 million to facilitate payment to the Dangote Refinery for the product, since the crude used for this initial batch was paid for in dollars.

Meanwhile, NNPCL in a statement shared on its official X (formerly Twitter) handle confirmed that in preparation for the Dangote Refinery’s scheduled petrol loading on Sunday, September 15, 2024, it has been mobilizing trucks to the refinery’s fuel loading gantry in Ibeju-Lekki.

According to the statement, as of afternoon of Saturday, September 14, 2024, NNPC Ltd. had deployed over 100 trucks, with hundreds more en route.