Federal Government Announces Complete Deregulation of the Petroleum Sector.

The Nigerian federal government has announced the complete deregulation of the petroleum sector, allowing oil marketers to source their products from any supplier of their choice.Previously, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited was the exclusive importer of petrol (premium motor spirit) and had sole rights to purchase from the Dangote Refinery in Lagos.

However, with this new policy, other oil marketers are now permitted to purchase petrol from private refineries, including Dangote, and sell directly to consumers.The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, explained that the NNPC will now sell crude oil to local refineries using the Nigerian currency, the Naira.

This statement followed a meeting of the technical sub-committee tasked with developing the framework for selling crude to local refiners in Naira, signaling that the petroleum industry is now fully open to competition.

Earlier this week, the NNPC raised the price of petrol at its retail stations, with prices in Lagos increasing from N855 to N998 per litre and in Abuja from N855 to N1,030 per litre.