The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation on Wednesday provided a base crude oil price scenario in the medium term, stating that the commodity was pegged at $57/barrel for 2022.

Group Managing Director, NNPC, Mele Kyari, who disclosed this in a statement issued by the firm in Abuja, also said the base oil price for 2023 was $61/barrel.

Kyari explained that the assumptions were arrived at after a careful appraisal of the three-year historical dated Brent oil price average of $59.07/barrel premised on Platts Spot Prices.

He was quoted as saying, “Price growth is to be moderated by the lingering concerns over COVID-19, increased energy efficiency, switching due to increased utilisation of gas and alternatives for electricity generation. These are reflected in the Medium Term Revenue Framework.”

He explained that smugglers were not looking for officially priced petroleum products.

He further noted that going ahead to establish NNPC Retail stations would not yield the desired result since the people who smuggled the product across the border were not interested in selling at the official prevailing prices at approved stations but were interested in under the counter deals.

Kyari explained the corporation’s equity shareholding interest in Dangote Refinery, noting that the package which was at the instance of NNPC was designed to guarantee national energy security.

He stated that the equity interest was secured after due consideration of the national interest and best possible options.

“We will have right to 20 per cent of production from this facility. We structured our equity participation on the basis that the refinery must buy at least 300,000 barrels of crude oil per day of our production,” he stated.

This, he said, would guarantee NNPC’s market at a period when every country was struggling to find market for their crude oil.