Petroleum products retailers and marketers have said Nigerians may soon begin buying Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, Automotive Gas Oil, AGO, and other refined petroleum products in United States dollars if the Federal Government does not restore the Naira-for-crude deal with Dangote Refinery.
The National President of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria, PETROAN, Billy Gillis-Harry, disclosed this in an interview with DAILY POST at the weekend.
Recall that last week, Dangote Refinery resumed the sale of refined petroleum products in US dollars.
The refinery’s decision signalled the suspension of the Naira-for-crude deal, which enables off-takers to purchase refined petroleum products from the 700,000-barrel-per-day plant in naira.
Days after Dangote Refinery’s pricing shift to the US dollar, the Nigerian government had yet to officially comment on the matter.
However, there are speculations that the Federal Government has initiated talks with Dangote Refinery to restore the Naira-for-crude deal.
Reacting, Gillis-Harry said discussions on the Naira-for-crude deal should be concluded promptly so that ordinary Nigerians do not suffer the consequences.
According to him, the Federal government’s intervention would protect Nigerians from the adverse impact of global energy price shocks.
“Nigerians may start buying petrol in US dollars if the Federal Government does not intervene in the Naira-for-crude deal with Dangote Refinery.
“We hope the downstream oil sector will not be dollarised to that extent,” he told DAILY POST.
Recall that depot owners and marketers had earlier raised the ex-depot and retail prices of petrol and diesel.
Currently, petrol sells for between N1,155 and N1,220 per litre, while diesel sells for between N1,700 and N1,800 per litre in Abuja and its environs.
