FG approves Dangote refinery as sole supplier of jet fuel to airlines

The federal government has approved Dangote Refinery as the sole provider of jet fuel, or Jet A1, to aircraft companies operating in the country.

Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr. Festus Keyamo, SAN, disclosed this during an interview on Channels TV on Tuesday.

“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 Tuesday we started a naira-for-crude purchase with Dangote. It’s all Naira, no Dollar component,” Keyamo said.

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Keyamo stated that the arrangement is coming at a time when the crude-for-naira deal has just been struck, adding the jet fuel would no longer be subjected to foreign exchange.

He stated that this would further strengthen the naira.

“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 it in naira. I’m sure we are going to have access to cheaper Jet A1 fuel,” Keyamo added.

However, Daily Trust learnt that the operators under the aegis of the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) would be meeting with Dangote on the pricing.

An airline operator who spoke with our correspondent in confidence said, “Yes it is true we had a meeting with the Minister where we discussed and I can tell you we are still talking. We have not made a decision yet because we want to meet with Dangote on pricing.

“What some of us are saying is that we should secure a commitment first from Dangote that the price would be lower than what we are getting in the market presently so that other competitors will also lower the price.”

Daily Trust reports that the price of Jet fuel per litre hit an all-time high of N1,500 earlier this year but has recently stabilised between N1,100 and N1,200.