The Federal Government has designated Dangote Refinery as the exclusive supplier of jet fuel for Nigeria’s airline operators.
This was confirmed by the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, during an interview with Channels TV on Tuesday.
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Keyamo explained that, with his approval, the airline operators agreed to make the 650,000 barrels-per-day refinery the sole provider of jet fuel for the aviation industry.
He highlighted that this decision aligns with the government’s recent naira-for-crude agreement with Dangote, aimed at reducing pressure on the country’s foreign exchange reserves.
“The airline operators just met recently. With my blessing, it’s a decision from the airline operators in Nigeria that they should only buy from Dangote refinery Jet A1. You can see that yesterday we started a naira-for-crude purchase with Dangote. It’s all naira, no dollar component,” Keyamo said.
The minister added that sourcing fuel locally from Dangote will protect airlines from the volatility of global crude prices, leading to lower operational costs.
“The price will no longer be subjected to the varying factors of the international market, nor the headwinds of oil price in the international market. It will be in local currency so we can be clear as to the cost of it. We will buy in naira. I’m sure we are going to have access to cheaper Jet A1 fuel,” he noted.
Dangote Refinery, which began operations in April, has been supplying jet fuel and diesel domestically, while also exporting to Europe. The refinery’s first export shipment of 45,000 metric tons of jet fuel departed Lagos for Rotterdam in May, as part of a 120,000 metric ton tender won by BP and Spanish refiner Cepsa.
