FG names Dangote Refinery as the exclusive Jet A1 supplier.
Dangote Refinery has been granted permission by the Federal Government to serve as the exclusive provider of jet fuel to airline operators in Nigeria.
Festus Keyamo, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, made this revelation on Tuesday in an interview with Channels TV.
Keyamo disclosed that the airline operators had decided to designate the 650,000 barrels per day refinery as the only supplier of jet fuel for the aviation industry, with his support and agreement.
He pointed out that the action is timely given that Dangote and the Federal Government recently implemented a naira-for-crude arrangement.
The minister made a point of saying that this arrangement will lessen the strain on Nigeria's foreign exchange.
"Recently, the airline operators convened. The Nigerian airline operators have decided, with my approval, to limit their purchases to Dangote refinery Jet A1.
As you can see, we began buying Naira for Naira Crude with Dangote yesterday. There is no dollar component—it's all naira," stated Keyamo.
According to Keyamo, aircraft operators would be protected from the effects of changes in the price of crude oil by obtaining their fuel from Dangote, which would ultimately result in lower operating expenses.
The fluctuating elements of the global market and the challenges posed by the price of oil will no longer affect the price.
"We will be able to clearly understand the cost because it will be in local currency." We'll pay with naira. Without a doubt, we will have access to cheaper Jet A1 fuel,” Keyamo said.
In April, the Dangote refinery resumed operations, starting with the manufacturing of jet fuel and diesel, with the diesel reaching the local market by the following month.
The refinery started exporting after first distributing some of its aviation fuel domestically, with its first shipment bound for Europe.
On May 27, the vessel, Doric Breeze, left the Lekki Free Zone in Lagos carrying 45,000 metric tons of jet fuel heading for Rotterdam, Netherlands, according to S&P Global Commodities at Sea data.
This shipment was a part of a tender for 120,000 metric tonnes, in which BP won the first allocation. A portion of the tender was also secured by the Spanish refiner Cepsa, which is anticipated to start shipping jet fuel to Europe soon.
Six shipments of kerosene and jet fuel have been exported by Dangote thus far; all of the shipments have gone to Senegal, Togo, or Ghana.