BREAKING: Fuel price to increase as Dangote Refinery suspends petroleum product sales in Naira

Amid stalled naira-for-crude negotiations with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), Dangote Refinery has announced it will temporarily stop selling petroleum products in naira.

The refinery, which currently sources crude oil in U.S. dollars from the international market, stated that selling in naira creates a currency mismatch in its operations.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, March 19, 2025, the management explained:

“This decision is necessary to avoid a mismatch between our sales proceeds and our crude oil purchase obligations, which are currently denominated in U.S. dollars.
“To date, our sales of petroleum products in naira have exceeded the value of naira-denominated crude we have received. As a result, we must temporarily adjust our sales currency to align with our crude procurement currency.”

Dangote Refinery also dismissed reports that it halted loading due to ticketing fraud, calling the claim “a malicious falsehood.”

“Our attention has also been drawn to reports on the internet claiming that we are stopping loading due to an incident of ticketing fraud. This is malicious falsehood. Our systems are robust and we have had no fraud issues.”

Despite the current shift, the refinery assured that it remains committed to the Nigerian market and will resume naira sales once it receives naira-denominated crude from the NNPC.

“We remain committed to serving the Nigerian market efficiently and sustainably. As soon as we receive an allocation of naira-denominated crude cargoes from NNPC, we will promptly resume petroleum product sales in naira.”