The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited and the Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Lekki, Lagos, have finalized a new two-year agreement for the supply of crude oil. This deal is intended to ensure a consistent and steady feedstock for the Dangote refinery, which has a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day.
The agreement, which was finalized in August, is part of the Nigerian Federal Government’s larger strategy to prioritize crude oil allocation to the privately run Dangote Refinery. The primary goals of this government initiative are to boost energy security and ensure a stable domestic supply of fuel, especially by allowing the refinery to pay for the crude in naira.
Based on industry data covering the period from October 2024 to September 2025, the Dangote Refinery was allocated approximately 82 million barrels of crude oil. Significantly, 49.3 million barrels (60%) of this total were provided under the “crude-for-naira” scheme.
This allocation follows a recent dispute where the refinery temporarily stopped selling petrol in naira, claiming its allocation under the naira-based scheme had been depleted. The sale of naira-denominated petrol products subsequently resumed after the Chairman of the Naira-for-Crude Technical Committee intervened.
The Chief Corporate Communications Officer for the NNPC, Andy Odeh, has confirmed that the state-owned oil company is still supplying crude oil to the Dangote Refinery using the Nigerian naira for payment.
He explained that the NNPC, the Dangote Refinery, and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) regularly meet to verify and align the volume and monetary value of the crude that is delivered in naira.
According to Odeh, the state-owned NNPC and the Dangote Refinery have signed a new sales agreement that will last until 2027.
This agreement formalizes NNPC’s continued practice of allocating crude oil to the refinery in naira under the Federal Government’s “Crude for Naira Initiative.” The goal is to ensure the sale of refined products in the Nigerian domestic market.
He further clarified that the NNPC, DPRP, and the NMDPRA regularly meet to reconcile the quantity and naira cost of the refined products sold against the value of the crude oil that was supplied.
Odeh outlined the recent and future crude supply schedule, noting that three naira crude cargoes were allocated and fully loaded in August. For September and October 2025, five cargoes are scheduled for each month, with the September allocation currently underway as two vessels complete pre-loading procedures. Overall, from October 2024 to October 2025, a total of 82 million barrels of crude was allocated to the Dangote Refinery, of which 60 percent or 49.3 million barrels was specifically supplied in naira.
The newly signed deal guarantees crude supply until 2027, resolving earlier concerns that arose when the Dangote Refinery temporarily halted sales of naira-based petrol after running out of its initial naira crude supply. Those sales quickly resumed following intervention from the federal government.
The Dangote media team has not yet offered any further comments or details regarding the specifics of this new agreement.
