Nigeria's state oil company NNPC Ltd has begun discussions with the Dangote Oil Refinery to extend its contract for supplying crude oil in the naira currency, the company said.

The original six-month agreement, which ends later this month, was implemented in October after local refineries, including the Dangote facility, reported difficulties securing crude supplies.

The initiative aimed to alleviate those supply issues by allowing refineries to purchase crude in naira through NNPC Ltd. Under the existing arrangement, NNPC Ltd says it has supplied 48 million barrels of oil to the Dangote Oil Refinery.

While the initial plan included supplying seven other smaller refineries, only the Dangote refinery ultimately benefited from the agreement, and even it did not receive the initially agreed-upon volumes.

NNPC Ltd said that "discussions are ongoing towards" a new contract. The details of the potential new contract, including volume, pricing, and duration, are yet to be disclosed.