Wale Edun says progress on naira-for-crude deal will be revealed soon

Wale Edun, the minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, has promised to provide further updates on the naira-for-crude deal in due course.

In a statement on Friday, Mohammed Manga, the ministry’s director of information and public relations, said a meeting of the technical subcommittee on the crude and refined product sales in naira initiative convened on Thursday.

Speaking at the meeting, Edun commended the “continued collaboration across agencies and partners, promising to provide further updates in due course”.

According to the statement, the session reviewed implementation milestones and recorded progress since the last engagement.

Manga said the meeting, chaired by Edun, was attended by Zacch Adedeji, executive chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and chairman of the technical subcommittee, and Olu Verheijen, special adviser to the president on energy.

Also present at the meeting were senior representatives of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, local refining operators, and regulatory institutions, including the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), and the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA).

Stakeholders were said to have reaffirmed their shared commitment to the effective and seamless execution of the policy, “which remains a critical component of President Bola Tinubu’s broader strategy” to strengthen the naira, enhance energy security, and promote local value addition within the sector.

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

On March 10, TheCable reported that the NNPC had halted the naira-for-crude deal until 2030, as the government-owned company has forward-sold all its crude oil.
Days later, the Dangote refinery said it had temporarily halted the sale of petroleum products in naira.

However, on April 9, the federal government said the naira-for-crude oil deal will continue after the first phase, which ended on March 31.