Nigeria's independently-owned 650,000 b/d Dangote refinery has "temporarily halted" the sale of petroleum products in the country's naira currency, according to a statement seen by Argus today.
The decision was taken to "avoid a mismatch between our sales proceeds and our crude oil purchase obligations, which are currently denominated in US dollars", the statement read.
Dangote said refined product sales in naira "have exceeded the value of naira-denominated crude" the refinery has received, and it will resume naria-denominated product sales as soon as it receives a naira-denominated crude cargo.
Nigeria's state-owned NNPC recently said it is in negotiations with Dangote refinery about extending a local currency crude sales arrangement.
