The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) on Wednesday sealed a deal with producers for improved sale of crude oil to domestic refiners at market prices with a view to ending a supply dispute that had strained relations with international oil companies.
Recently, complaints from the Dangote Refinery’s management indicated that oil majors were hindering local crude purchases by demanding excessive premiums or claiming they had no available supplies.
In a statement issued on the deal, the NUPRC Managing Director, Engr. Gbenga Komolafe, maintained that the commission could not allow pricing to impede domestic refining and supply of petroleum products in the country.
He said: “We will never allow price strangulation to disincentivise our domestic refining capacity optimisation,” adding that the commission will work to ensure there is no “crude supply profiteering” and will not condone any loss-making in oil production.
To ensure transparency in the crude oil supply and refining value chain, the industry expert requested monthly cargo price quotes on crude oil supply and delivery from both producers and refiners, stressing that it is up to the NUPRC to balance upstream development with a sustainable domestic energy supply chain.
It would be recalled that in March this year, Komolafe met with oil producers and refiners as part of the regulatory commission’s efforts to address refineries’ lack of access to locally produced crude oil.
Many industry experts had predicted that the coming on stream of the 650,000 barrel-a-day Dangote refinery would end the refined products importation by Nigeria and make the country self-sufficient and also able to export refined products to global market with the attendant multiplier effects on the economy.
