Dangote’s bid buy crude in Nigerian currency approved

Nigeria’s government has approved the sale of crude oil to the Dangote refinery in the local currency, the Naira. The government asked the state-owned oil company, Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited to sell the crude to Dangote and other refineries with immediate effect. The decision puts an end to the dispute between Dangote refinery and oil regulators over crude supply.

Reuters reports that the $20 billion Dangote refinery, Nigeria’s main oil refinery and billed to be the largest in Africa at full throttle, started production in January but has struggled to secure enough crude to meet its 650,000-barrel-per-day capacity.

Dangote previously had to buy oil on the international market but it filed a complaint saying oil majors were blocking its access to locally produced crude by selling it above market price or claiming it was unavailable, forcing the refinery to rely on expensive imports.