Nigeria’s Dangote Petroleum Refinery announced on Wednesday the suspension of sales of petroleum products for the domestic market as renegotiation of a deal using Nigerian currency, the naira, has stalled.

In a notice sent to petroleum marketers, the company said the decision is temporary.

“Dangote Petroleum Refinery has temporarily halted the sale of petroleum products in naira. This decision is necessary to avoid a mismatch between our sales proceeds and our crude oil purchase obligations, which are currently denominated in US dollars,” the statement said.

“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. 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.

'Remain committed to serving Nigeria'

“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 (Nigerian National Petroleum Company), we will promptly resume petroleum product sales in naira,” the refinery said.

Before now, the refinery sold to Nigerian marketers in naira because it buys crude in the local currency through the deal with the NNPC.

But since March 10, the company has discontinued the naira-for-crude deal with the Dangote refinery and other local refineries, making the company take a decisive decision on Wednesday.