Dangote oil refinery has suspended the sale Petrol to Naira, a decision that destabilized traders and aroused concerns about new pressure on fuel prices and currencies.

This suspension, effective since September 28, risks to complicate efforts to reduce the demand for dollars in the Africa's largest economy, where fuel imports have weighed heavily ever since long on foreign currency reserves.

“Dangote Petroleum Refinery & Petrochemicals sold petroleum products in excess of our Naira-Brut allowances and, as a result, we are no longer able to maintain the sale of PMS in naira in the future,” the company said in its note.

Until now, the refinery sold gasoline in Naira on the domestic market under an exchange agreement crude-ver-naira with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company. This initiative was initially welcomed by the government as a way to reduce the pressure on the dollar and to support the local currency.

However, rising exports from Dangote -- including fuel oil, naphtha and diesel to Europe, West Africa and the United States -- raises questions about domestic market supply priorities.

Customers with pending Naira transactions are invited to formally request a refund, according to the note.