NNPC Confirms Dangote’s N11bn Crude Oil Purchase in July

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has disclosed that the Dangote Petroleum Refinery accounted for 32.33 per cent of its total crude oil sales in July, worth N34.64bn This was contained in an internal document submitted at the Federation Account Allocation Committee meeting in August and obtained by Economic Confidential on Wednesday.

According to the document, total crude sales stood at 340,000 barrels, generating $22.51m or N34.64bn at prevailing exchange rates. The breakdown showed that NNPC Trading lifted 220,000 barrels of Antan blend crude on the vessel Ottoman Courtesy. At a unit price of $63.73, the transaction generated $14.02m, which was converted at N1,532.55 to the dollar, translating to N21.49bn.

A second consignment of 20,000 barrels from the same Antan field yielded $1.27m, equivalent to N1.95bn using the same exchange rate. The domestic arm of NNPC Trading also sold 100,000 barrels of Okwuibome crude produced by SEEPCO on the vessel Sonangol Kalandula.

Priced at $72.09 per barrel, the cargo fetched $7.21m, which was converted at N1,553.27 to the dollar, amounting to N11.20bn.

The document confirmed that Dangote refinery was the offtaker for the domestic cargo, accounting for N11.20bn of the total N34.64bn realised from crude oil sales during the period. This represents 32 per cent of the entire revenue declared for July. Economic Confidential observed that this marks the first documented sale of crude by the NNPC to Dangote refinery since the renewal of the naira-for-crude agreement in April 2025.

Earlier, Economic Confidential reported that the NNPC generated N336.37bn from crude oil sales in the first quarter of 2025, with Dangote Petroleum Refinery accounting for over 32 per cent of the transactions Crude supplies to Dangote refinery amounted to N107.44bn within the three-month period.

The crude was sold at unit prices ranging from $74.87 to $80.34 per barrel, using exchange rates between N1,501.22/$ and N1,562.91/$. In the past seven months, Dangote Refinery has received crude oil worth N118.64bn through the naira-for-crude arrangement.

Economic Confidential further learnt that the transactions were executed using exchange rates recommended by the African Export-Import Bank. One of the documents read, “The Dangote domestic lifting is payable in naira based on Afrexim Bank’s advised exchange rate.”

The sales formed part of the naira-for-crude deal introduced by the Federal Government to ensure domestic crude supply to the 650,000-barrel-per-day Lagos-based refinery.

As part of moves to reduce the strain on the US dollar and guarantee the price stability of petroleum products, the FEC in July 2024 directed the national oil company to sell crude oil to Dangote refinery in naira, rather than in the US dollar, for an initial phase of six months.

The sale of crude oil and refined petroleum products in naira to local refineries commenced on October 1, 2024, to improve supply, save the country millions of dollars in petroleum products imports, and ultimately reduce pump prices.

However, in March, Dangote refinery said it had temporarily halted the sale of petroleum products in naira. The refinery said the decision to halt sales in naira was “necessary to avoid a mismatch between our sales proceeds and our crude oil purchase obligations, which are currently denominated in US dollars”.

After an initial delay, the Federal Executive Council eventually directed the full implementation of the suspended naira-for-crude agreement with local refiners. It stated that the initiative with local refineries is not a temporary measure, but a “key policy directive designed to support sustainable local refining.”