Nigeria's state-owned oil firm NNPC began selling crude to the country's 650,000 b/d Dangote refinery in the local currency on 1 October, as planned, the Nigerian government said.
Co-ordinating minister of the economy Wale Edun said he has conducted "a post-commencement review" of the programme, where downstream regulator NMDPRA, NNPC and Dangote officials confirmed the start of sales in naira.
"From 1 October, NNPC will commence the supply of approximately 385,000 b/d of crude oil to the Dangote refinery, which will be paid for in naira," Edun had said previously.
The programme will also involve Dangote supplying gasoline and diesel of "equivalent value to the domestic market to be paid for in naira".
The crude and product sales will be valued in dollars at prevailing international market prices, but financial settlements will be completed in naira at a fixed exchange rate that has so far not been disclosed. Maritime and port regulatory costs for coastal deliveries of crude and products under the programme, which are normally collected in dollars, "will also be paid for in naira", Edun said.
The Nigerian Ports Authority's managing director, Abubakar Dantsoho, previously confirmed the set-up of a "one-stop shop that will co-ordinate service provision from all regulatory and security agencies", listing Nigerian ports, maritime, customs and tax authorities and the navy as participants.
Dangote will sell diesel volumes under the programme "to any interested offtaker", the government said, but gasoline will only be sold to NNPC. "NNPC will then sell to various marketers for now," according to the government.
"Since gasoline is still subsidised by the government, using discounted foreign exchange [available] only to NNPC, prices at wholesale and retail are still considerably below the market. That is why only NNPC can buy Dangote's gasoline today," said Bob Dickerman, the chief executive of local oil trader Pinnacle.
Nigeria's diesel market has been deregulated since 2003 but efforts to remove the country's longstanding gasoline subsidy have stalled. Dangote started sales of gasoline to NNPC on 15 September under an older contract in which the national oil company pays the refiner in dollars.
Argus tracking shows Dangote's crude receipts rose by 5pc on the month to 195,000 b/d in September. Dangote said it is aiming for a run rate of 350,000 b/d in its first phase of operations but has fallen short of that level in every month this year except for June.
